Teen Titans: Future Storm: Hell Trigger
by The Amazing Shrinking Violet
Summary: A sidestory/sequel to Future Storm, by BPK, set in the missing year, featuring the cast of Devil May Cry in a new adventure that is very ill-omened, and features the return of an old villain. Done with BPK's permission
1. Hell Trigger: Renewal of Hostilities

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 1: "The Renewal of Hostilities"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s).

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, to expand on something he did in an earlier work – namely, the 'Blood' arc of Teen Titans: Future Storm, which featured an appearance by Dante. This results in this story, a full crossover between DMC and the FS Titans. Enjoy.

* * *

It was the last day of a big weapons exhibit in the city of San Francisco, in an old, antiquated-style museum dedicated to the supernatural. Normally such places were jokes amongst the museum circuits, but they had recently come into a great deal of money, and a number of near-ancient mystical items that proved to be quite old, and thus, quite valuable; this didn't lead to them updating things, and so the display cases were glass, the security systems were barely up to modern spec, and everything was just so easy to bypass, if one were a clever master thief. Or even an amateur. Though no one would be stupid enough to rob this museum now, due to a certain superhero team paying a visit on behalf of one of their members.

Samara eyed the weapons with a curious look on her face, feeling the ancient magicks coursing through the blades, gauntlets, whips, and other implements of pain that had, for centuries, been sought after by numerous collectors. While the others found it rather macabre, she found it completely fascinating, and though she wished she could study them completely, to confirm the old legends she had heard, she didn't have the time : The museum was closing soon, and her friends were getting restless…especially Inferno. He was looking especially bored, and a bit creeped out by his lover's fascination with this strange history. Nightstar and Cipher were looking at a display on a courtesan who had been charged as being a witched, and burned at the stake, though only for the sake of trying to look interested. Rose was busy 'tormenting' Bladefire, whispering sweet nothings – or what passed for them, for the former mercenary – into his ear and making him blush. Mercury was scarfing down hotdogs, making his way from the museum to a fast food place down the street, and sharing with Beast Girl, who looked absolutely bored stupid, and groaning and shifting, and slouching in a chair, eventually breaking out in a whine.

"Can we go now? Everybody else has left already…"

With a sigh, and an amused look on her face, Samara straightened up, and looked back at her friend. "Yes, Terri…we can go now. I'm done here." There was a lightening of the mood as everyone relaxed, and realized that they were free of this rather disturbing glance into history. But one would ask, where was Ibn in all of this? He was outside, having finished his own studies of the weapons ten minutes ago, and waiting for the others…at least until it started raining, and he came back in, looking somewhat sour as his hair was plastered to his head, and his clothes were damp. Beast Girl giggled a bit, at least until he gave her a stern look, quieting down somewhat.

"Are you all finished now? While this was rather interesting, I doubt this display merits this much attention from you, Samara."

"I had heard there was a weapon belonging to Trigon worshippers here…but I haven't seen it yet."

"Perhaps because they're worried you would try to claim it as your birthright," the detective pointed out, a wry smile on his face, causing the part-demon to roll her eyes.

"Very funny. I didn't know you had a sense of humor…" Samara trailed off, feeling something strange in the air…something powerful…something…familiar. She glanced over to the entrance/exit to the museum, and in walked a young-looking man with medium length platinum white hair and wearing a long blue coat, dark blue pants, and brown boots, and fingerless black gloves. Before she could say anything, he shoved Beast Girl out of the way, causing the shapeshifter to cry out as Mercury rushed to catch her. Before the other Titans could react, a blade of blue energy formed in the man's hand, and with two slashes, the display case before them exploded in a shower of glass, the weapons scattering, a Japanese-style sword in a blood-red sheath falling into the man's hands. He turned, and the rest all got a good look at his face, Mar'i gasping with some surprise, and everyone else who knew that face doing a double take.

"Dante…?" She asked, hesitantly, not recognizing that look on the man's face, her brother moving up beside her, as they were the strongest on the team, physically, and the most durable. 'Dante' responded by using his thumb to push the blade out of the sheath, grabbing the handle and pulling it out with a sudden slash, a wave of energy passing over them forming a net-like wall, which caught the twins in it. They struggled for a moment, then there was a sudden breaking of glass sound, and strangled cries as their skin was bit into, and sliced open, a small amount of blood fountaining from their wounds as they fell almost lifelessly to the ground, a smirk on the white haired man's face.

"MAR'I!" Cipher rushed forward, slashing out with a finger at the man, who responded by forming another energy sword in his other hand, catching the psychic 'blade' that surrounded the telekinetic's fingers, and knocking him back, sheathing his newly acquired sword, and striking him with the butt of the sheath, staggering the teenager back. The white haired man started to thrust out with the covered weapon, slamming the butt repeatedly into Cipher's stomach and chest, while Cipher attempted to kick and slash at the man, who quickly avoided all of the attacks without even sweating, before he sighed softly.

"Done now." The voice was different, more smug, arrogant, and before Cipher could react, he coughed up blood, eyes going wide as he managed to look down, seeing a number of the energy blades had pierced his chest, though not hitting anything vital, the swords breaking apart, the sudden force causing Cipher to fly back, a puddle of blood forming around him. Rose, for her part, fared little better, throwing kicks and punches at the man, who blocked them all with the sheath of his blade, before he took it out, and slashed her across the chest, cutting open the front of the dress she had decided to wear for the night, following up with a downward slice, which caused the silver haired girl to nearly spill out of her dress, a furious look on her face. She lifted up her eyepatch, and the man remarked, curiously, "Ah, the Hell's Spiral. Truly, a formidable weapon…in the right hands. However, a mere human cannot hope to stand up against a son of Sparda." With surprising speed, he thrust his sword back, knocking a broad sword out of the case, and then, holding it in one hand, thrust out with amazing force, a blue energy trail behind him, and slammed it into her chest, causing her eyes to go wide before blood trickled down her mouth, and fell back, gasping for air, but unable to pull the sword out, not being strong enough to dislodge it from her ribcage. "Pathetic child…" And then his attention moved to Beast Girl and Mercury, the former of which transforming into a winged harpy, and clawing at him with her talons. "Cute." He responded, before thrusting out with his sheath, striking her on the chin, and knocking her out cold, her body crumpling onto the floor before him. With a grin, 'Dante' regarded Mercury, sheathing his blade yet again. "So you're the 'fast' one, eh? Care to try your luck with me?"

"You bastard!" Mercury spat, running at super-speed, running around the room and whipping up a miniature, rough tornado-like gale. The man looked unimpressed, as blue-purple energy began whipping about him, and with a roar, it exploded, the force knocking Peter off his feet and smashing him into a display case, the glass biting into his skin and cutting him, as well as knocking him out from the impact. Ibn finally moved, picking up one of the fallen weapons, a spear, and began thrusting with it, fierce stabbing motions a look of concentration on his face as he put all his attention on their attacker, temporarily driving him back. At the same time, Inferno began throwing fire blasts at the man, who was struck by one, and knocked down…though he quickly rolled back up, hardly phased, not showing any sign of pain or injury, though his jacket was singed, and promptly drew his blade, and began slashing with it, in a flurry of swipes that Ibn blocked most of, but soon his spear was shattered, and he was struck unconscious by a swipe from the scabbard/sheath, and inferno was blown aside by a sudden blast of energy swords, these exploding the moment their points touched him, knocking him through a wall. Finally, it was just him and Samara, the oldest Titan wearing a furious look on her face, eyes glowing black. However, the man just smiled, good-naturedly, to her.

"I'm not your enemy here…you see, we're alike…unlike your fool friends."

"We're nothing alike, you turncoat!" Samara spat, a fierce look on her face, prompting 'Dante' to laugh. "You may have helped us, but you just put yourself on my bad side, you bastard!" Samara then 'picked' up two large display cases with her powers, shadow hands gripping them, and slammed them down on the attacker. For a moment, it seemed that they connected, but then they exploded in a shower of cut glass and wood and metal, 'Dante''s sword flashing about wildly before a sudden slash – with the sword sheathed – knocked Samara down, making her taste bile in the back of her mouth. "Ugh…"

"You show promise, girl…but only when you forsake your weak human self will you be able to defeat me," He said with scorn and disdain, a smug, superior air about him as he walked past her. He looked back over his shoulder as he stepped into the rain, smirking. "You'd best hurry…your alien friends are going to bleed to death soon, if you don't heal them…._human._" The way he said the word was as an insult, practically spitting in Samara's face for the way she was raised, the way her mother was raised. "Your as weak as your pathetic mother…tell her I said hello…" he chuckled, darkly, then in a flash of blue he was gone, leaving Samara on her knees, surrounded by her hurt and battered friends.

Chanting under her breath, the mage teleported herself and her teammates to their current hideout, a cave/cavern somewhere in the city's boundaries, and began work on healing them.

* * *

It was about an hour later when Samara realized something was wrong when she couldn't fully heal Nightstar and Bladefire. Yes, she could stop most of the bleeding, and close most of the wounds, but there were still surface cuts and markings, and occasionally they would bleed again. She healed Terri rather easily, since all she suffered was one blunt force injury, so then the shapeshifter helped patch up the twins, the two girls wrapping them in bandages to help stop the bleeding for now. Ibn healed nicely as well, considering he'd also only taken blunt attacks. However, Raziel was also taking too long to heal, from the number of energy swords he'd taken to his torso. Rose was well enough to curse and moan, and complain, though she was still suffering some after effects of being impaled. But the sword they pulled from her chest turned out to have been a regular blade, not one of the mystical ones, so she was only suffering in a small amount as compared to the others. Peter was still out of it, and Beast Girl spent most of her time hovering over him, holding his hand and trying to make him comfortable as he writhed about, the burning in his wounds not easing up. However, the worst of it came from being unable to help Inferno….even though he'd been the least beat up, he had absorbed more of the demonic fire than any of them, and it was burning in his blood, causing him to cry in agony, the seal on his chest glowing a bright purple, his body occasionally igniting – they had to remove the bedsheets and use flame-retardant ones to help him be more comfortable.

While trying to heal her friends, and finding herself unable to, Samara let out a frustrated cry, eyes watering a bit, when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, and looked up, surprised, to see her mother standing over her, a concerned look on her face. "Mother…?"

"Yes, Samara. I'm here. I could feel your pain even from the astral realm…and the anguish you feel for your teammates. What happened?"

"We…we were attacked…at the museum…by…by Dante," the mage said, wiping her eyes, regaining control over herself, the panic fading now that she was in the presence of her mother, who always seemed to make her feel better. Raven's face, however, showed a look of confusion as she regarded her daughter closely.

"That's not possible…he's one of the good guys…he helped us against Blood…and with the other demons…he's a Devil Hunter, but he only goes after the evil demons…why would he go after you?"

"It…it wasn't us he was after. It was some kind of sword…a katana…in a blood-red sheath with a black handle…"

"That doesn't sound familiar…and Dante only uses Devil Arms…human weapons don't really have enough power for him…" Raven went over to touch the twins, and gasped, recoiling as though burnt. "Agh!"

"M-mother?! What's wrong?" Samara and Beast Girl rushed over, catching Raven as she fell back, a haunted look on the older mage's face.

"Mrs. Wilson?" the emerald skinned girl had a worried look on her face, while Raven steadied herself and stood.

"These injuries were caused by a combination of highly potent demonic energy…and a blade crafted by a cult that worshipped Trigon, until their destruction centuries ago at the hands of the legendary Dark Knight…"

Terri scrunched her nose at that. "Batman?"

This response prompted Raven to sigh, and give her daughter's friend a look. "No, Sparda…Dante's father."

"Oh."

Samara gave her mother a curious look at that. "So why is the sword here?"

"Someone must've found it, and hidden it amongst the collection…because that's not the blade that you were looking for. That blade is in the Watchtower, because it's too dangerous for anyone to have, and its safest there." Raven sighed again, and wore a concerned look on her face. "I can heal them, but it will take time. I'll have to draw out the demonic energy, and place it in a receptacle…"

"Will this work?" Terri grunted, hefting up the broadsword that had impaled Rose, with the older woman smiling softly.

"Yes, that will do nicely." Then Raven looked up, and saw her daughter moving away. "Samara? What are you doing now?"

"I'm going to find out what's going on. Don't worry, mother. I'll be fine."

And with that, the mage teleported out of the cave, her mother sighing with worry, but not ready to leave the Titans yet, in the state they were in. Of the conscious ones, who had been silent out of respect, Rose snorted, before groaning.

"Ow…it's always the quiet ones…"

* * *

A moment later, Samara rematerialized outside a three level building, and looked up over the door, spotting the neon sign that read 'Devil May Cry', and with a focused look on her face, she slammed the doors open with her powers, and stormed towards the desk, brushing past a young-looking woman with short, feathery black hair wearing a pair of orange shades, and wearing a white pair of short shorts and matching jacket, with blue stripes on both, with an ammo belt around her waist, long brown boots on, and gloves, and with a large rocket launcher over one shoulder. The woman replied with a "Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"

The person Samara was after looked up from his desk, putting down the magazine he was reading, but still eating the piece of pizza he had in his other hand, and gave Samara a warm look. "Ah, Samara! Nice to see you again. That was Lady you just ran into, and this is Trish," He indicated a busty blonde wearing a pair of leather pants, a tight vest with a lightning bolt pattern on the front, black boots, and a black armband around her right arm, and a large belt with a pair of twin guns in holsters at the back, her hair slicked back a bit. "So what's up?"

Instead of replying, Samara levitated Dante, and slammed him into his wall, knocking the pizza from his hand, and getting both Lady and Trish on her face, the mage wearing a fierce look on her face. "WHY DID YOU HURT MY FRIENDS?!" She screamed, enraged, forming a clawed energy hand around Dante, and squeezing, only for him to pry the 'hand' open and drop down to the floor, motioning for the two women to back off of Samara, which they did, though not completely understanding why Dante was so willing to give the benefit of the doubt to this strange girl, who was obviously part demon.

"Okay, back up. Your friends are hurt? And you think I did it? When was this?"

"About two hours ago…at a museum here in the city, where there was a weapons exhibit that held a secret blade belonging to a Trigon-worshipping cult," the mage said, icily, prompting Lady to groan.

"See? I told you we should've gone over there…"

"Well, if you wanted to go so much, you should've gone yourself," Dante shrugged it off, looking nonchalant and cleaning off some plaster from his red coat. "So it was a guy you thought was me? A doppelganger, maybe?"

Samara shook her head in response. "No…I would've felt that. This person…felt a lot like you do, the same energy…only more focused, and tainted with dark intent…but now that I'm feeling your aura…I can tell it wasn't you…"

"Okay, so, what did this guy look like?" Dante stepped up to his desk, and sat on the edge, picking up his pizza, eyeing it carefully, before going back to chew on it, watching Samara with interest.

"Well, he looked exactly like you…the face, the eyes…the body built…his hair was a bit longer, now that I think about it, and he wasn't wearing the right outfit…"

'What _was_ he wearing?" Lady spoke up, a concerned look on her face, a look she shared with Trish, as the two began to figure something out.

"Uh…dark blue coat like yours, fingerless gloves…dark pants, a vest of some sort…and brown boots."

"What kind of sword did he steal?" Dante asked, still not showing any worry, though there was a glint of interest in his eye.

"It was a katana…a Japanese-style sword."

"You don't think it's…him, do you?" The two women gave Dante a look, the Devil Hunter just shrugging, smiling calmly.

It was then that there was a massive explosion, blowing away the front of the shop, sending – and this made Samara blink rapidly: a number of stuffed animals from the upper level, as well as a small television set that crashed at her feet, startling her.

"Good thing Patty and Morisson aren't here…because this party's just getting interesting…" Dante said, grinning, as he picked up his broadsword, Rebellion, and his two guns, Ebony and Ivory, and placed the sword on his back, and spun the guns around, the three women moving away from the crater that had been the front walk…

Standing there was a fairly large demonic figure, looking like a knight in armor with a blue face and horns, carrying a massive, uneven blade, and wearing a purple cape over one shoulder. The creature's face bore something of resemblance to Dante's, though it was hard to tell. And with an ice-cold, though familiar, voice, it spoke. "Dante…"

"Well, well…It's great to see you again…Vergil." Dante grinned, aiming his guns at his brother and chuckling. "You always did throw the best parties."

* * *

End Notes: How's that for a cliffhanger? Well, anyone who played DMC3 would have known this was coming from the start when Vergil first showed up, but for everyone else, I hope it was worth it. There's more to come from this story yet.

And in response to people wondering about my chronic lateness, I suffer from incredible writer's block, and sometimes it takes moving onto a new piece to get the creative juices flowing. I'm sure some of you out there understand that sentiment.

And also, big props to BPK for letting me do this, and helping me out by proofing it and pointing out any mistakes I may have made. This story is for him, and everyone else who reads his stuff, and/or my stuff, and of course my other friends here on .


	2. Hell Trigger: Duel of the Brothers

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 2: "Duel of the Brothers"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it. Keep reading…you may be pleasantly surprised.

* * *

The rain was still falling, though the sounds of the droplets hitting the wooden paneled floor was second to the sound of it falling on the metal armor of Vergil Sparda, the twin brother of Dante. Samara, Dante, and Dante's allies were several feet away from the dark half-demon, who tapped his large sword against one shoulder, an evil smirk on his face. The first one to speak was Samara, a growl escaping her lips.

"Why?! Why did you attack us?!" She cried out, her eyes glowing black, dark energy surrounding her as she prepared to attack. Trish and Lady didn't move, but drew their own weapons – Trish her dual handguns, and Lady her personal rocket launcher – and took aim at the still-waiting demon, while Dante hung back, twirling his guns around some more.

"You got in my way…" came the reply, a smug sound in Vergil's voice as he pulled his left hand back, gathering dark fire around it, and then thrust out, doing a thrusting/pumping motion, firing two more fireballs after the first. Samara wore a mean smile, and just stood there, until…

"Azarath Terra Zaratha," She chanted, a force field appearing around her, made of her dark energy, bouncing the fireballs back at Vergil, who responded by swinging his sword and cleaving each one in two, causing them to explode as they struck the buildings behind him, still smirking. Samara still smiled herself, before repeating her chant, the field reshaping into a pair of massive claws, and with a hand motion, the claws turned into fists and slammed into Vergil, one of them striking his sword, but the other made a hard landing on his face, knocking him back a few feet, into a car, which promptly began blaring an alarm, making everyone wince slightly. Vergil attempted to pull himself out of the wreckage, but was stopped as a sudden click sound caught his attention.

"Bye bye now," Lady said, a little smile on her face, taking aim at the armored demon, and firing a rocket, which soared past Samara, and struck Vergil's armored chest, and exploding. The explosion caused the car he was trapped in to break apart, pieces flying every which way, Lady dodging the ones that came at her, Trish blasting others out of the sky with her electricity based powers, Samara putting up another force field, and Dante idly twirling his sword about in front of him, like a saw blade, the sword glowing red, shredding anything that came near it to little harmless fragments.

"Did that get him?" Samara looked to the Devil Hunters, the women shrugging, as the fireball that had erupted around the former vassal had not yet cleared…but when it did, everyone but Dante tensed – Vergil, in his Nelo Angelo Devil Trigger, was still standing, though his cape was now tattered, and the smirk was gone, replaced by a look of pure hatred and anger.

"Guess not," Trish remarked, gathering lightning in her hands, before making a throwing motion, electricity arcing from her finger tips and slamming into the former Knight of Mundus, causing him to shiver in pain, though he slammed his sword into the ground after a few moments, the energy channeling from him into the sword, and thusly into the asphalt, a grin soon forming on his face. "Damnit…he's gotten stronger."

"It's got to be that sword," Lady said, grimly, while Vergil hefted his mighty blade again, and approached them slowly, forming his energy blades around his upper torso, the blades glinting as they moved back, then launched forward, Samara putting up a shield to block them…only to find that field ruptured, the blades still heading forwards, and the three women unable to move in time to avoid them.

"Oh no…" Samara whispered, closing her eyes, regretting that she hadn't told Jeremiah how much she loved him that day…only to hear gunshots ring out, and the sounds of the swords shattering and dissipating into nothing. She opened her eyes, surprised she wasn't dead, and turned, seeing Dante's smoking guns, and breathed a sigh of relief as the experienced demon hunter walked forward, holstering his weapons, and drawing his sword again.

"Okay, bro…everyone else has had a shot at you…now it's my turn," he said, shrugging as he walked, before pulling his arm back, and then thrusting forward with his sword, red energy coming off of it. "Let's go!" He cried out, striking his brother in the chest and sending him sprawling backwards, leaving a dent in his chestplate from the force of the impact, before Dante then began stabbing rapidly, driving the sword into his brother's armored chest over and over at high speed, which, while not as fast as Mercury, was still pretty damn impressive…especially when the sword broke the chestplate and struck meat, Angelo crying out in pain as he stumbled back, blood trickling from the wound. "Oh, did that hurt? I'm sorry about that…guess I don't know my own strength there." Shortly after that remark, however, the blood flow slowed, and then stopped altogether, as the demonic energies Vergil was tapping into knitted his flesh and sinew back together, though the armor remained damaged for the moment. "Huh…guess you're as tough as you look." He bowed a bit, and clapped his hands together, backing up a little. "C'mon, Vergil…let's finish this fight."

"I couldn't agree more…" his brother spoke, and then, in a sudden flash of energy, he reverted to his normal, 'human' state, his hair still down from all the water, sword in its sheath. The two brothers watched each other carefully for several moments, before, wordlessly, they rushed at each other, blades extended, and began slashing at each other rapidly. Dante would slice and swing roughly, concentrating on dealing maximum damage per hit, while Vergil focused on precise cuts to his brother's torso, slicing open his vest and shirt, while their jackets flapped with the wind they were whipping up, swords more often than not banging against each other, sparks flying, before finally, Dante stabbed Vergil in the stomach, and pulled the blade out by kicking his twin off roughly and with a grunt. "Ugh! Nice try, Dante…but you know that it'll take a lot more than what you're dishing out to deal with me."

"Yeah, I know. But you're bound to be rusty after all these years, so I'm takin' it easy on you," the red-garbed swordsman said with a smart grin, which infuriated his brother, who lunged at him, slicing downwards from an overhead position, hitting Rebellion, then slicing back up, also hitting Rebellion, and then threw out a couple of kicks, striking Dante in the ribs and, for the moment, knocking the air out of him. "Wooph! Guess you're not as rusty as I thought. That just means this'll be even more fun." The comment was somewhat snarky, Dante's grin still in place as he recovered, staggering for a few moments before pointing his sword away from himself, aimed at the ground, red energy gathering around the blade, before transforming into fire, "Get ready for….THIS!" With that, Dante slashed upwards, sending out a wave of energy from his blade, something Vergil blocked with the Bloodbringer sword he still had with him, and began to talk to his brother, a smug look on his face.

"Really, Dante. That was just sad…" However, as Vergil finished, Dante slashed twice more with the side, two more waves launching and forming an X, slamming into Vergil and sending him flying through the air, smashing into part of the damage structure, making a piece of roof fall down at his feet. "Ugh…nice trick, brother. You've learned some new ones since we last fought…"

"Damn straight." Dante grinned, before tossing his sword with both hands, the blade spinning about in midair as it launched directly towards Vergil, who attempted to block every attack, while Dante began firing his handguns, a few bullets striking the other white haired man in the arms and legs, knocking him back again before the final sword attack knocked Vergil down for all of two seconds, before he jumped back up, his body knitting itself back together, an after-effect of his earlier transformation into Nelo Angelo – the energies he tapped into were still seething within his body, contaminating him with their ungodly essence. The swordsman tensed as he recovered, drawing his sword and slashing at the air, causing what appeared to be distortions in space that struck Dante, Samara, Trish, Lady, and the other parts of the shattered building.

"Ow!"

"Damn!"

Unlike the other two, Samara didn't vocalize her pain, simply mending the wound, surprised to find that, unlike with her friends, she could completely restore her own body…then realized that the sword Vergil was using, and the power he was tapping into, was the power of her grandfather, Trigon…whose blood ran through her veins. Concentrating now, she turned to look at a massive pile of rubble, pieces of rebar sticking out of the chunks of stone and masonry, before chanting. "Azarath Terra Zaratha…" she chanted, softly, levitating the stone, and began throwing them at Vergil, who sliced through one, ran along the second, and jumped off the third…taking the forth right in the chest and breaking a few ribs, knocking the son of Sparda out of the sky unceremoniously. "That's for my friends…" she whispered, a soft smile on her pale face.

"You're proving to be more than an annoyance, girl…and so, you'll have to be disposed of before I can finish my business here…"

"You won't get the chance!" came Raven's voice as suddenly she and the Teen Titans, all fully restored and costumed, teleported into the area, in the space between Vergil, and the others. Ibn, wearing his batsuit, produced one of his batarangs, and threw it at vergil, who moved to block it…only for it to explode in the demon swordsman's face, knocking his head back slightly and making him cough a bit as the teargas that special projectile held. Bladefire formed his own energy blades, a fierce look on his face as he went up against Vergil, their weapons clashing and hitting one another, sparks flying.

"Give up, Dante!" Nightstar said, before she heard Samara clearing her throat. "Samara? What is it…it…" She trailed off when, looking behind at her friend, she saw the actual Dante standing behind Samara, arm propped up on her shoulder, a pleasant smile on her face. "There's…two of him?"

"They're twins, Mar'i…like you and Joh'n. Except they're identical."

"No way…" Mercury whistled, before running at Vergil, and began hitting the demonic swordsman. At first Vergil was blocking the attacks, but soon enough Mercury stopped holding back – as much – and began slamming his fists into the white haired man's face and upper torso, using his far superior speed to overcome the more refined skills Vergil possessed. "Sotherestwoofthemnow? Great," he spoke, in a blur, still ramming his fists into the demon's chest, realizing that, if Dante wasn't entirely human, and that Vergil was his twin, then the second son of Sparda had the same durability and quick healing abilities his twin had, and so, he didn't have to hold back as much. Finally, after a minute or two of a severe beating, Vergil fell back, skidding along the wet floor and coughing up blood, spitting it out with an angry look on her face. He stood, shakily, and prepared to draw his blade, when suddenly a magic bolt blindsided Mercury, sending the Shinobi of Speed into Dante's desk, knocking him for a loop. "Guh!"

Wide-eyed, Beast Girl rushed over, calling out his name. "Peter! PETER!" She crouched down, and put his head in her lap, stroking his hair lightly, shaking a bit. "Oh, god, please, don't be hurt…"

"Wuh…T-Terri? What hit me…?"

"Oh, you're alright!" She said, smiling, and hugged him tightly, making him wince a bit. "Oh, sorry…hehe…"

"Children, quiet…" Raven shushed them, before erecting a shield with her old chant: "Azarath Metrion Zynthos!" Another magic bolt, crimson in color, struck her shield, and knocked her back, though she managed to keep the shield from breaking apart for the most part, though it was heavily cracked. "Ugh! This magic…it…it can't be…"

"Hmph…Uriah…I should've known you people wouldn't leave me be as long as I had this sword…" Vergil said, coughing a bit, sheathing the cursed blade he was wielding and placing it at his side. A cloaked figure emerged from the shadows – or rather, the shadows opened up, and out from them emerged a figure in a dark cloak. The effect was rather familiar to most of the people there – it was the same thing as Samara and Raven's dematerializing through solid objects, and moving through shadows. "What do you want now, pest?"

"We want the sword…but the traitor will do nicely…" Came a rough, gravelly voice, as the now-revealed male walked forward, wearing an ornate black vest and matching pants, and dress shoes, and gloves. What could be seen of his flesh was a bright red, and, with a grin, the hood came down…revealing…

"NO!" Raven screamed, eyes going wide in horror as she looked into the face of…her father.

At a second glance, however there were a few missing things, and inconsistencies. This person had no horns, antler-like or otherwise, and had a smooth face, rather than a rough, lined one. Also, despite having four eyes, these eyes were glowing yellow, not red, and the hair was neat and smoothed back, though white still, and was rather attractive, for a demon. However, anyone could see that look of horror wasn't leaving Raven's face any time soon, as she backed up, shaking her head and muttering incoherently to herself. As the cloaked man approached her, she screamed in terror, and fell down. "No! Father, no!"

"M-mother!" Samara cried out, running for her mother, trying to pull her up. She too was panicking, but unlike her mother, she had never known Trigon. She only knew a few things about her grandfather, none of them good. And to see someone who bore his appearance, even altered, was terrifying to the mother and daughter. Inferno, in an attempt to protect his love, sent a wave of fire at Uriah, who merely raised a hand, causing the blast to travel through a portal in front of said hand, and reopen behind Dante and his two associates, sending the women jumping away and singing Dante's overcoat.

"Ugh…and this was my favorite coat, too." Dante said, almost nonchalantly, through taking his sword in hand and preparing to attack. However, Uriah merely chuckled, and shook his head, waving his hand in a peaceful gesture.

"Please…I am not here to fight you…we're merely here for our sword. However, failing that, we will gladly take Raven with us…" He continued to walk forward, a confident manner in his walk. Vergil sheathed his blade, and stood, grunting a bit, and began to walk away.

"We shall settle our business later, brother…when Yamato has been returned to me, and I am at my full power. And these…children…won't stop me next time." Vergil said, hmmphing, and then stepped through the shadow gate that Uriah had walked through, while Uriah began to chant, his hands held out. Meanwhile, the Titans' leader had to have her say.

"We're not letting you take her, demon! She's one of us!" Nightstar cried out, forming her energy whip and lashing out with it at the red-skinned demon, only for it to harmlessly deflect, striking the ground a foot away from the mage-demon. Mar'i raised her arm, and lashed again, and again, only for the energy weapon to be bounced away each time. "X'hal! I can't get through!"

"Let me try, Mar'i…" Cipher rushed forward, and began throwing a series of aimed punches and kicks at Uriah, who calmly took each blow, and, while he was knocked back, that didn't interrupt his spell, as a massive of red energy formed above Raven, and soon sprouted 'tentacles' that would swoop down to capture the Azrathian, until…

…Samara pushed her mother out of the way, letting out a strangled cry as she was pulled into the orb, and soon was gone, Inferno crying out in anguish.

"SAMARA! NO!!" He cried, before turning to Uriah, and threw another bolt of fire at him, and another, and another, the bolts simply curving around him and hitting the area behind him, melting asphalt and metal, the demon sighing a bit. "You bastard! Bring her back!"

"I cannot…that spell was a one-way trip, as you humans put it…we had no intention of taking our cousin with us yet…we wanted our aunt…"

"'Niece'? 'Aunt'?" Ravager tilted her head a bit, her swords still sheathed in her scabbards, a slightly interested look on her face, though that was more to hide her concern than anything else – being part of a team meant she had grown some attachment to her allies, though most of her emotions were saved for Bladefire. "Care to explain yourself, cowboy?"

"Raven was not Trigon's only child. He had others…though none he cared for, and none that could bring him to this world, and none to give him the power he needed to sustain himself. Those children thrived and prospered, both in this world and the underworld, and so myself and my cousins were born…The time for Trigon's return has come…and we intended to offer his traitor daughter as the blood to bring him back…however, that spell was only good once…we shall return for Raven, and soon…you may take this time to say your goodbyes and prepare for the End of Days…"

"Tch, like we haven't heard that before," Mercury said snarkily, preparing to attack, when a sudden wall of black sprouted between the Titans – and Dante and company, and Raven as well – and Uriah, separating them from him for the moment. "Hey! What are you doing, Raven?! We have to save Samara!"

"NO! We have to stay away from him! We don't know what other powers he has!" Raven said, panicking a bit, to which Ibn nodded in agreement.

"She's right. The last time we fought a new, unknown opponent, we didn't fare too well…and this one seems more powerful than Dante's brother—"

"Vergil," Trish cut in. "His name is Vergil."

"—more powerful than Vergil, at least in some respects. We should take this opportunity to prepare, to learn his weaknesses…" He started before Inferno cut in, a furious look on his face.

"NO! We save Samara NOW!" He lunged for Uriah, only to be knocked back – not by Raven's shield, but by a bolt of energy from Uriah's eyes that ripped through the barrier and sent the teenager flying back, a grin on the demon's face.

"Now, that wasn't very fair, was it?" Dante said, rubbing his nose a bit as he walked forward, going through the hole in the shield, and waiting for a few moments before rushing at Uriah, swinging his sword about rapidly, the red-skinned demon jumping back to avoid the attacks, whipping sounds filling the air as the sword flashed about, the demon hunter grunting a bit in surprise, pulling back for the moment. "He's got quick reflexes, I'll give him that much." He then turned back, and motioned to Mercury. "Hey, kid…want to give this a shot?"

"Thoughtyou'dneverask!" Peter breezed past Dante, ramming into Uriah and knocking him back, before flipping over his head, grabbing the demon by the cloak, and tossing him using his speed in place of strength. Uriah didn't travel far, but did crash into a stack of garbage cans, before running between mystic bolts – this time he was ready for them, and the demon-mage couldn't blindside him again. He began punching Uriah, as had Vergil, only to find that the red-skinned 'man' wasn't as tough as Vergil, despite his frightening appearance. In fact, he seemed to be only moderately tougher than Raven or Samara, and so he eased back, leaving the battered demon there, coughing up blood that steamed as it hit the ground, the glow in his eyes weakening as he was roughly picked up by Lady, who held one of her smaller handguns to his head, pressing the barrel up against the side of his forehead, pressing up hard against the temple, grinning a bit.

"Now, this is where you answer our questions, or I pull the trigger and kill you. It's that simple," she said, the scar running along the bridge of her nose curving a bit as she smirked, thinking that they had just beaten the demon. However, Uriah merely smiled back, and melted into the ground, as a pool of shadows, and traveled along the ground, sliming his way up the side of the somewhat-ruined Devil May Cry building. "H-hey! He's getting away!" Lady took out her other handgun, this one a German-style Luger-type handgun, and began opening fire, the bullets ricocheting off the brick and stone of the building, the Titans either ducking or taking cover beneath one of Raven's shields.

"This is not good. Not good at all." Beast Girl commented, transforming into her harpy form again, and flew up after the Uriah-slime, clawing at it, only to find that was adhering to her, and then surrounded her, forming a straightjacket…which caused her to fall out of the sky and land ontop of Ravager with a loud thud, knocking both girls silly, while the goop pulled away from Terri, and reformed into Uriah, who looked somewhat drained by the exertion Then he found himself encased in an orb of solid black, which he couldn't escape from. Raven's earlier fear had mostly subsided, when she realized she was dealing with someone younger than she was, someone with far less experience than herself. And she was quite mad at being tricked.

"WHERE. IS. MY. DAUGHTER?!" She said, angrily, channeling the energies she'd been born with, her two extra eyes opening, all four glowing red as she began slamming the sphere into the ground, the walls, cars, buildings, whatever else she could hit against it, rattling her nephew around, until finally opening it and releasing him in midair, which resulted in him landing on a car, smashing into the roof with a groan. "Answer me!"

"I'd do as the lady says, pal," Dante said, helpfully, standing over Yuri's battered form on the hood of the car, hands in his pockets, weapons all holstered. "Otherwise you're cruisin' for a bruisin'." The Devil Hunter chuckled, while the Titans all gathered around.

"Do you…honestly think…my family would let you take me?" Uriah said, pained chuckling escaping his bloody lips as shadows began to wrap around him. However, these shadows didn't belong to him, and instead pulled him up, and formed into a young woman with long black hair, pale white skin, batwings emerging from her back, and her head, and wearing a skimpy outfit, an amused look on her face, and the mark of Scath on the top of her left breast, which was visible, considering her outfit consisted of a corset, a thong, long boots, long gloves, all adorned with symbols, and the occasional mark of Scath, her eyes almost human but with yellow irises. "Cousin…"

"Shh, now, Uriah, my dear…you did your job well…grandfather will be pleased you brought him his new toy…" The woman said, comfortingly, to her cousin, stroking his long white locks affectionately, a wing wrapping around him and cradling his body to hers.

"Toy? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Inferno snorted, while Raven once again went pale. When everyone saw the look on her face, she hesitated to speak. "Raven…?"

"Demons…as you are all aware…don't have the same morals as most humans…some demons are especially depraved and…mate with their siblings, or children, or…grandchildren." A sick look passed over the Titans faces, while Dante nodded sagely.

"Mhmm. It's probably only because Raven was raised by her mother that she didn't end up, well…you know."

"Don't even joke about that," the woman said, sternly, an annoyed look on her face.

"I was just saying."

"I know. It's just not something I want to think about. EVER."

"No kidding…" Mercury winced a bit at the thought himself. "It's just so totally wrong."

"Uh, guys?" Lady sighed for a moment giving them all a stern look.

"What?"

"The bad guys are STILL HERE. Morons." The woman sighed, and everyone who'd been talking, except Dante, slapped their faces, while Trish chuckled softly, amused. "Oh, I'm glad you find this so funny."

The succubus-appearing demon also wore an amused look, and continued to stroke Uriah's hair. "They're rather silly, cousin…I wonder if our long-lost cousin will be as fun to mess around with as these…humans are."

"If you even so much as TOUCH her, I'll kill you!" Inferno snarled, a sudden flame erupting from his hands, which were balled into fists.

"We won't touch her, cousin in law…it is up to grandfather to decide her fate…Until then, she shall be perfectly safe. More than likely, Grandfather will want to trade her for her trash mother. I'm positively chilled to think of all the delightful punishments he'll have for her…" the demon woman grinned, evilly, barring her pointed fangs with a dark laugh. Raven growled somewhat up at her niece, and floated up a bit into the air.

"You scum. I'm glad I didn't know I had any other family…because YOU lot are the trash! Despicable, disgusting, ugly trash!"

The amused look vanished from the succubus' eyes as she hissed at her aunt, an angered look come over her beautiful features. "How are you?! We are perfection! While you were tainted by your pathetic feelings for these _humans_…you even married one. Married! In a pathetic, meaningless ceremony for _humans_."

"Shut up!" Raven hissed back, eyes glowing a brighter red, the look on her face and the energy she was giving off enough to cow the weaker demon woman into backing up, heading for the shadow gate that was still opened. "Where do you think you're going?! I'm not letting you get away until you give me back my daughter!" She rushed forward, just as the demons vanished through the gate, which promptly closed seconds before Raven got there, her hands slapping up against the wall that had once been the gate. "NO!" She struck the wall with a bolt of energy, causing it to explode, though she soon calmed down and went back to normal, the dark waves of energy she'd been radiating fading into nothing, while everyone made sure to steer clear of her. "Damnit…"

Dante walked over to her, and gave her a look. "Well, I guess I'm off to Europe."

"Huh?" Beast Girl said, blinking, confusedly. Dante turned, and began to speak.

"There's a kid there, named Nero, living a city that used to worship Sparda until recently. He has this crazy arm, and some of Sparda's blood in him. But that's not why I'm going there."

"Then why?" Nightstar asked, slightly frustrated with Dante's off-handed way of talking about things.

"It's because I gave that kid Vergil's sword…and if Verg wants it back, he'll go after Nero to get it. Now, if anyone wants to join me, they can. More likely we'll find Vergil and his new 'buddies' there, and from there we can find Samara, or at least get a clue of where to go next."

"Alright then. We can use our plane. But we need to get in touch Zatara first…we're going to need all the help we can get." Bladefire said, prompting his twin to bristle a bit. Dante just laughed, and clapped his hands together.

"Alright, kids. Let me just get some party favors…" he walked over to the still-intact wall behind his desk, and picked up what looked like a large briefcase – an old fashioned one at that, at first glance – with a skull symbol on one side, with glowing lines along it. When he saw the looks he was getting, he shrugged a bit, and grinned. "Hey, trust me. This thing is awesome. And I'll need…you…" he reached out for a familiar weapon…the blade of Sparda. He then looked to Lady and Trish, grunting. "You two, clear all the stuff out of here, take it to Lady's, then meet up with us." Beast Girl raised a hand, prompting Dante to point over at her with his Sparda blade. "Yes?"

"Maybe we should split up? Half of us go with you, half of us stay here, move the stuff out of the building and to wherever you want it, AND look into any suspicious demon activity here in the city? I mean, there had to be a reason they all showed up here…"

"She's right," Nightstar said, nodding, and started counting on her fingers. "Inferno, you go with Dante and Raven…Bladefire, you, Beast Girl, and Mercury stay here with…uh…"

"Lady and Trish." Dante said, pointing to each in turn.

"Right, Lady and Trish. You guys also get in touch with Zatara…" She growled a bit as she said his name, eyes flashing for a moment, before she calmed down a bit, still pissed over losing Samara. "…and once everything's done here, start looking for anything out of the ordinary, superhuman, demonic, or otherwise. Rose…you're staying here with them…Cipher, Ibn…"

Ibn looked at Rose, and the grin she had on her face as she eyed Joh'n, and cleared his throat somewhat loudly. "What, Ibn?"

"I'll stay here with the others, and aid them in locating the demons. I am the better detective…" He said, attempting to look arrogant, though Nightstar clearly understood why he was staying – in order to make sure Joh'n and Rose didn't do anything inappropriate when they should be helping the others out.

"Of course. Cipher, you're with me and my team. Joh'n, you and your team listen to Lady and Trish. They're more experienced with the underworld than we are, now that we're without Samara." Everyone nodded, and split up accordingly, Dante slinging his briefcase over his shoulder and whistling a bit, looking at Mar'i with a grin. Finally, she sighed, and spoke. "What is it?"

"You have to admit…"

"What?"

"That was one hell of a party." That made Mar'i groan slightly.

"You're terrible."

* * *

End Notes: And here we are, ending with a bit of a cliffhanger. Who are these new demons, and why is Vergil working with them? Will the team be able to save Samara in time? All these questions and more will be answered in…the next chapter.

Seriously, thanks for reading, and I hope you stick with this thing. Keep reading, and review if you like; I'd appreciate any feedback.


	3. Hell Trigger: The Newcomer Falls

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 3: "The Newcomer Falls"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it. Keep reading…you may be pleasantly surprised.

* * *

It was just another day in Fortuna…well, another day since the original state of affairs turned into what it was now – while the people still dressed the same, and still believed in the legends of Sparda, they no longer obeyed the Order of the Sword, which was now defunct, the remaining untainted knights going into the service of their city, helping in the construction. It had been a month since Dante arrived, a month since he, with help, had saved the world, and things had been hell to get back to normal.

The person who had helped Dante was, at that moment, walking down one of the mostly-empty streets, passing the occasional parked car. The young man was named Nero, and part of what made him so special was his right arm, called the Devil Bringer. The fingers and palm were a glowing blue, surrounded by red armored-like hide plates, up to the elbow, ending slightly above the point that his red-cuffed blue sleeve was pulled down at. He wore a deep blue jacket with red trim and lining, blue pants, brown boots, a red vest, and had short silver hair. Slung on his back was a sword with an motorcycle accelerator on the handle, and at his side was a double-barreled revolver. The sword was called Red Queen, and the gun was Blue Rose. And at the moment, he was heading to a café in the city centre to see his sort of girlfriend, Kyrie.

However, he soon found his way bared by a man in a dark cloak, a late-teens looking young man wearing a red sleeveless top with red fighting gloves with white bandages around his hands and forearms, and tight red pants, and heavy red and black boots, with pale grey skin, medium length black hair, and indigo-colored eyes, and a young woman with short black hair in a bob wearing a bustier, gloves leather pants, and fishnets under the top (all black), the woman grinning evilly at him as she raised a hand up in the air, as though she were about to punch the air.

"Hey, uh, mind getting out of my way, folks?" Nero asked, politely. However, he soon found a fist striking him in the face, and knocking him on his backside. "Ow! What the hell?!" He looked up, rubbing his chin, and saw…the hand that struck him belonged to the dark haired woman, though the arm it belonged to was elongated outwards, like elastic. She smirked at him, and cracked her knuckles, before rushing at him, her fingers sharpening into claws as she swiped at him, while the other two watched, the cloaked man with a frown on his face. The other young man was grinning wickedly, licking his lips lightly.

"Damien, I don't see the point of this…"

"Oh, be quiet, Uriah…let Gemini have her fun…wait until Vergil gets here…she could use the exercise…" the one called Damien said, still wearing that grin as he watched the villainess attacking the amateur devil hunter.

"Doesn't she get enough exercise with you when you two are mating?" The red-skinned devil rolled his eyes, while Gemini knocked Nero back down, drop-kicking him in the chest and rolling into a ball, attempting to ram into his face. However, he reached out, forming the energy part of his Devil Bringer, which formed another, larger hand similar to his, though without the armored forearm, and caught Gemini in the outstretched 'hand' and threw her into the air, hard. "Looks like she's beginning to lose."

"Ah ah ah, Uriah…she's not that easy to beat…" Damien chuckled, watching as the metahuman unfurled, and stretched out her arms, grabbing two streetlights in her hand, and, when she had stretched taut, was launched into Nero, slamming her booted heels into his chest again and breaking a rib or two. However, soon enough Gemini was on the run, as Nero drew his sword and began slashing at her – while he was still swinging the sword, revving it up to send fire along the blade, which did weaken the villain, she was still relatively unharmed from the attacks, and about to level a counterattack when a blue energy sword impaled the ground between them, causing Gemini to back off, cursing up at the figure on the roof overlooking the fight. "Looks like playtime's over…too bad…she was getting my blood boiling…"

"Damn it, you freak! You nearly hit me! Goddamnit, we're on the same side!" She shook a fist up at him, growling, while the blue figure leapt from the roof, and landed behind her, pushing her aside. "You--!" before Gemini could say anything else, Damien approached her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him, kissing her neck and chuckling softly, biting lightly on her elastic flesh and making her groan softly. "Mmm…Damien…"

"Don't start a fight with Vergil right now…otherwise he won't give us back the sword when he gets his own back…" her apparent lover said to her, in an amused voice, stroking her hips as he cupped them, and pulled her away from the half-demon, who held his stolen sword at his side, still in the sheath, as he usually fought.

Gemini made a sound not unlike a giggle, rare for her, and allowed Damien to pull her away, as his left hand went up to rest on her left breast, lightly. "I haven't forgotten the…commitment…I made to you, Damien…and I haven't forgotten what you've given me…so I'll listen to you, for now…as long as you hold up your end of the deal…"

"Of course, my dear, of course…I wouldn't dream of denying you your revenge…" He said, purring softly, as they rejoined Uriah, who gave them a look – not that demons had any decency, but for a demon to cavort around with a mortal (a human, no less) and treat that mortal as an equal was rather unknown to most of the demon groups, save for those that weren't so evil, or were more sympathetic to the humans; however, Uriah and Damien were of Trigon's blood, and Trigon had never taken a human as an equal, or as a consort, but only as a means to enjoy the weaker sex…and in one instance, to produce a child. That, Uriah and his relatives considered a serious mistake, that breeding with humans would only produce more muddied blood and possible betrayers…but Damien was the head of the group, and if any defied him, even though his power was not enough to come near matching Trigon's, they would find themselves suffering for all eternity in a specially reserved part of Hell, or worse, Purgatory.

Nero, for his part, was wondering if helping Dante and becoming a Devil Hunter meant having nutcases attacking him every which way. However, he noticed that the man across from him now looked very, _very_ familiar. He looked like Dante, but with spiked up hair and blue clothes. There was only one explanation for this… "So you're Dante's brother, huh? I thought you were dead."

"The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated…" Vergil replied, approaching Nero slowly. "I'm going to offer you this one chance…hand over Yamato, and I'll spare your life…resist, and I'm going to pound you into dust…it's your choice." The devil grinned, evilly, drawing the blade, which was now glistening red from all the energy it had been absorbing from combat, an ominous and evil energy radiating from it, sending shivers down Nero's spine. However, he revved up his blade, until it was completely glowing red, and drew his gun, taking aim at the older, more experienced swordsman. "So I see you're going to do this the hard way. Very well…you may make the first move."

Nero rushed forward, swinging the sword in front of him, a trail of flame coming off the sword as he attempted to strike Vergil, who merely jumped over the swinging blade, and pushed off Nero's chest, knocking the younger man back, and twirling his own, smaller sword around, before rapidly slicing at the air, sending out waves of energy with each slice, energy that cut whatever it struck, slicing up the light poles and building fronts, as well as tearing into Nero's jacket, though he held up his Demon Bringer, the energy arm blocking most of the attacks, before Nero grunted, and began glowing a bright blue, before crying out and practically exploding, his eyes glowing blue, and a large, demonic figure forming about him. The figure lacked legs, and looked rather similar to Vergil's original Devil Trigger, right down to the sword's sheath attached to the arm. As Nero pointed his blade at Vergil, the avatar creature pulled its own blade, and much to the older demon's annoyance, the blade was HIS…Yamato.

"How annoying…that is my blade…how dare you use it against me…" the Son of Sparda spoke, lifting up his own blade before rushing at Nero, 'stabbing' the younger man with the sheath of his blade, which was also gathering energy, and had become 'harder', as evidenced by how hard it struck Nero, knocking him back a few feet, before tossing the sheath, which began spinning around, similar to Dante's sword-toss maneuver, which smacked Nero in the face, stunning him and causing his concentration to falter for a moment, before the younger man began firing his weapon, curved blades firing off from around the avatar, annoying Vergil further. "That's my move, boy!" Vergil formed his own blades, flinging them off and matching each of Nero's, the swords shattering on impact, though unlike Vergil, Nero needed to be channeling his avatar to be able to use them…meaning that as soon as he had temporarily had used up the demonic energy he had stored himself, he would lose the ability to create energy swords. At the same time, Vergil deflected any bullets that came near him, cutting them in two and knocking them away with ease. "However, you don't have any skill with your powers yet…and because of this unfamiliarity, you will lose this battle."

"Bring it on, freak," Nero said, his voice echoing and distorted, before pausing, drawing his sword up slowly, his avatar doing the same, until both slashed twice, rapidly, sending out an X-shaped energy blast at Vergil, who responded by cleaving it in two, causing the wave to move around him and towards Uriah, Damien, and Gemini. The woman's eyes widened a bit, and she looked at Damien, who merely smirked, before waving his hand, disapitating the energy with ease, and absorbing it into himself. As he did, he noticed his hand began to glow blue for a moment.

"Interesting…" the demon smiled, evilly, and watched as Nero continued to swin his sword, the avatar doing the same, both blades clashing against Vergil's one, before finally, Vergil transformed as well, assuming a blue and black, 'caped' form that, as mentioned, resembled Nero's avatar, with a silver head, glowing eyes, a swordsheath attached to his left arm, with the Bloodbringer nestled in it, and tails like a coat trailing along his back, as the whole thing still retained Vergil's basic look. "Now let's see how you handle a real demon…" Vergil snarled, drawing his blade one more, and rushing Nero.

The two traded blows violently, their swords clashing against one another and sending out sparks and flashes of blue and red energy, moving at a rapid pace that most normal people would have a hard time following. Even Gemini in the past would've had a hard time keeping up with the blades, but now, after her demonic 'enhancements', she was able to easily watch the fight, an amused grin on her face. Uriah, however, chose that moment to spoil the fun his relative and Gemini were having by speaking.

"We have company…"

* * *

The Titans had, after a fairly long flight, arrived at Fortuna, landing outside the city proper and walking in, even the fliers. Dante was taking the lead, the briefcase still slung over his shoulder, a grin on his face as he motioned to the mess. The Titans could see, in the distance, a large headless statue that had a number of broken gems on the arms, chest, and legs. Then, after they had entered the city, the Devil Hunter spoke.

"Alright, I'm not usually the type to say this, but let's try to keep things low-key…these people have suffered their own demonic invasion recently, and while it wasn't on the scale of what happened in your home city, it was still pretty bad. If the kid and I hadn't have stopped it, it would've been a world tour."

"Whatever…let's just look for those freaks so we can find Samara…" Inferno grumbled under his breath, looking about the toppled buildings and cars. He was getting ahead of the others, and turned a corner, looking about suspiciously, when he felt a strong hand grab his shoulder, and spin him around. Before he could react, a fist struck him in the face, knocking the pyromancer down onto the ground, skidding back into view of the others. Spitting out some blood, he looked up, and groaned. "Not you again…"

"That's right…me." Standing there, cracking his knuckles, was the demon dragon – in human form at the moment – Kiryu, who had been one of Samara's 'suitors' some time ago, before she chose Inferno…something that never settled with the demon dragon. And now that Inferno had failed to protect Samara, the demon was going to be quite happy kicking the crap out of her consort. "Get up!" He kicked at Inferno, the Titan rolling back and avoiding it, before the two found themselves being restrained by dark energy, an extremely pissed – for her - look on Raven's face.

"Both of you…knock it off! We don't have time for this screwing around!"

"Rather to the point, isn't she?" Kiryu said, as he and Inferno were let down, the latter rubbing his sore jaw.

"You would be too if it was your daughter in trouble…can't say it's nice to see you again, scaley…" Dante said as he walked between the two, heading into the city, before narrowing his eyes. "Damn…he's here…and the kid's losing. Come on!" Raven nodded, and with her chant, leviated those that couldn't fly. Kiryu stood next to Dante on the platform Raven had created, not wanting to give himself away. The Devil Hunter gave him a curious look. "So, why are you here, exactly?"

"Besides my promising to do just this if the human failed Samara? Rumor has it that one of the demons behind this plot…whatever it is…plans on breaking our law and making Samara his consort, regardless of the fact she already has one."

"That's bad…" Dante whistled, before giving Inferno a look. "Calm down, kid; I'm sure that's not really the case…demon law's pretty strict on this stuff. Doesn't mean they won't try anything, it just won't be permanent."

"Oh, that's reassuring…" the Titan said, sourly, prompting Dante to shrug.

"Hey, I tried," he said, falling silent for the rest of the trip, while Nightstar flew overhead, rolling her eyes a bit at her friends and allies.

When they got over the city, she gasped, and promptly dived, Dante looking down, groaning, and jumping off the platform, falling after her.

"What got into them?" Inferno said, before Cipher spoke up.

"I believe it has something to do with…that."

* * *

Down below, Vergil kicked Nero into a car, the devil hunter dropping his weapons and falling limply to the ground. The Yamato fell from his Devil Bringer's grasp, and slid towards it's former master, the demon picking it up and tossing the blade he had before to Uriah. "Take this trash…I don't need it anymore." The red-skinned demon caught it, carefully, giving Vergil a sour look.

"This sword isn't trash…it's a vital part of our plan," he commented, somewhat stiffly, while Damien gave him a look of his own, quieting him down. Then the leader of the pack glanced over to Vergil, grinning for a few moments.

"Now, I trust you're coming back with us, Vergil? You haven't received your payment yet…"

"No, I haven't…" the swordsman agreed, sheathing his sword in its own sheath, which he had under his coat, while Gemini tilted her head, a puzzled look on her face as she heard something strange.

"What's wrong, my love?" Damien tilted his head, before hearing the noise as well, and promptly struck Uriah in the shoulder. "PUT UP A SHIELD, NOW!" The startled demon did so, and with a resounding boom the energy shield cracked, and Damien extracted himself from Gemini, growling as he leapt up into the air. "They're here! The children are here!" He roared, flying through the air, fists outstretched…colliding into Nightstar.

"Give us back our friend, demon!" She growled herself, eyes flashing brightly, as she and the demon began exchanging punches in mid-air, most of the time their fists ramming into each other, like out of an anime, though one would occasionally land, knocking back the unlucky fighter – Nightstar landed the first one, driving Damien back, before he lashed out with a backhand covered with energy, striking her across the face and leaving a red mark, and drawing some blood.

"Never!" He said, laughing evilly. "Her blood is needed for the sacrifice!" That was when Cipher came in range, leaping from the platform Raven had formed, and struck Damien in the back of the head, stunning the demon enough to cause him to fall out of the sky…though not before gripping the telekinetic tightly, dragging him down with him, smirking. "Was that really supposed to hurt me, boy?" The demon spoke in a dark voice, a voice that sounded as old as Time, and laughed, before releasing Cipher, leaving Nightstar to save him. "Hmm…perhaps we overestimated these mortals…" he said, thoughtfully, before a telekinetic ram struck him from behind, sending him spinning through the air, righting himself after several moments…and locking eyes with his attacker, Raven. "Well, well, well…it's been a long time…" he said to her, icily, before grinning cruelly. "I missed you, Raven."

"And how exactly do I know you?" the older woman floated several feet across from Damien, in a bit of a showdown, her hands at her sides, dark energy surrounding them.

"I think my friends and I will keep that our little secret…" He tapped his nose, laughing as Raven suddenly felt something strange approaching her…something dark, evil, and twisted. She had time to gasp before a black ball struck her, and began wrapping around her.

"Agh! What in the name of Azar…" she grunted, trying to pull herself free. A head began to form, that of Gemini. Raven's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing. "Gemini…what are you doing with these demons?" Then, sensing a familiar dark energy about the shapeshifter, her eyes widened. "You didn't…are you insane?!"

"You're one to talk," Gemini purred, before wrapping an arm around Raven's mouth and nose, forming an airtight seal around them, and causing Raven to start gagging from lack of air. "Not so smart-mouthed now, are you, Ravey-poo?" She said, mockingly, before being hit by a blast of fire. Startled, though still holding onto Raven, she turned, and her eyes widened as a fire construct flew towards her, in the shape of a Chinese dragon. "Aww, crap." She managed to say just as it hit, exploding and causing her to release Raven, who was significantly paler, coughing and trying to get as much air as she could in her lungs, while a partially melted Gemini fell to the ground below. An ominous glow appeared on her left breast, at which point she began to recover rapidly, fully restored and able to spread herself and floated down to the ground, without taking another scratch. However, Damien was looking rather run-down at the moment his lover restored herself…as she was drawing on his power to heal herself, and taking it away from him. He smirked softly as he felt the energy rush back to him, and gave her a knowing look. She winked back at him, and laughed rather insanely. "Mmmm…guess I should thank you, stranger…you just made my night more interesting…" She purred, seductively, as Kiryu and Inferno landed in front of her. They eyed her suspiciously, and she knew why. She lifted a hand to rest on her chest, chuckling softly. "Ahhh, I know that look…it's the same look Damien's sychophants had when he marked me…"

"So you're his consort…" Kiryu snorted, prompting Inferno to blink for a moment.

"Exactly," Gemini continued, wagging a finger slyly at them. "That means I'm badder, stronger, and a lot more resistant to fire, demon or otherwise. Care to try me again?"

"Great…so the crazy bitch also got crazier…" Inferno sighed, rubbing his forehead a bit, before Dante appeared behind him. "Ack!"

"Don't lose site of the objective, kids…I'll check on the kid." He waved a finger, and blocked a magic bolt from Uriah with ease. During all this time, Dante had observed the battle searcher for his brother…who had seemed to vanish from the scene. As he moved to check on Nero, as he said, he found himself almost blind-sided by his brother, who dashed out of the shadows, drawing his blade and striking at Dante, only to be deflected by Rebellion. Dante responded by swinging his briefcase, and dropping it on the ground and then standing on it, the case opening and a bright light emerging from it, knocking Vergil up into the air and away, stunning his brother. "There you are…sneaky move, Vergil…but not sneaky enough."

"I'll have to keep that in mind, brother…"

"I see you got your sword back. I hope you had your fun with it… because I'm taking it back," Dante closed the case, kicking it up into the air and catching it, before lifting it up, the case changing shape until he slammed it down on the ground crouching, now in the form of a bell-shaped energy weapon, that began charging up, before releasing a massive laser-like blast at Vergil, who slid to the side, but found that the force of the blast was enough to knock him aside, grunting as he held his side, a new kind of agony working his way through him. "Looks like that hurt, bro. Care to give up now?"

"Nnnph…not on your worthless, human-loving life…" Vergil gasped, releasing his side as it began to knit together, before growling and dashing forward at rapid speed, slashing at Dante and knocking him back with the flat of his blade, sending the case-weapon flying and landing in Cipher's arms, startling the telekinetic.

"Hey! Don't lose that, Raz!" Dante barked, drawing his regular guns and opening fire on his brother, Vergil spinning through the air, and using his blade to deflect any projectiles that came near him. "I seriously need that thing!" He threw his sword at his brother, while raising a fist as he ran, the blade striking Vergil's and knocking it aside for the moment, allowing Dante to punch his twin right in the nose, knocking him back as well as breaking it.

"Agh!" Vergil's hands went to his nose, which hadn't started healing yet, and looked at his brother with a dangerous look on his face. "That was completely immature and unbecoming of a warrior…"

"Well, I've never been one to follow all the rules, bro…" Dante grinned as he cracked his knuckles, then launched a kick to Vergil's unguarded mid-section, knocking the wind out of him just as his nose began to knit back together. At the same time his sword came spinning back to him, and he caught it, using the flat of the blade to hit Vergil like a baseball, the sword glowing red, which resulted in the demon swordsman's flying back through the air and colliding with a lightpole, warping it to wrap around him.

"Damn…when did you get this strong…?" Vergil coughed up some blood, wiping his mouth and flicking the spare blood aside, a soft grin on his face. "You may just be the worthy challenge I was looking for after all…Come then, brother. Let us have one last battle before I prove that I am the better Devil."

"Being a Devil never much occurred to me, Vergil…I always wanted to follow in Dad's footsteps. Your way got you trapped in the Demon World, where you became a slave to the freak who killed Dad. So you tell me…which one of us is the smart one?"

Vergil growled as he walked around his brother, drawing his blade once again. "I'll make you regret those words, Dante…you arrogant fool…"

* * *

Cipher dodged one of Uriah's blasts, still carrying the Devil Arm with him, making sure to be careful with it, until finally getting sick of being on the defensive, and throwing the case at Uriah, surprised to see the case shifting into the form of a throwing, three edged blade, that spun through the air and bit into Uriah's flesh, causing a smoking wound, before it returned to Cipher, and once again became a briefcase.

"That's something you don't often see…" the Titan mused softly.

* * *

During the fight between Inferno, Kiryu, and Gemini, Damien decided to get involved, striking Kiryu from behind by punching him in the back of the neck with an energy gauntlet – however, this gauntlet seemed to be made like a Green Lantern construct, an actual gauntlet formed of dark energy. While the hit did affect the demon, the gauntlet also shattered on impact, causing painful feedback to arc through Damien's nervous system, causing him to cry in pain. "AGH!"

"Coward…striking me from behind…I'll make you regret that…" The black clad demon dragon cracked his knuckles, and took up a stance, Damien doing the same when he had recovered, the two beginning to trade blows, starting from simple punches and kicks and moving up to more complex martial arts, the moves flowing seamlessly together, and would astound anyone who saw, especially when they began using the more dangerous and powerful attacks, culminating in Damien charging his fists with his dark energy, and battering Kiryu's forearms…but to no avail. The dragon responded by lashing out with a spinning kick, hard enough to knock Damien away, rolling along the ground until coming to a stop where Nero had fallen. Coughing a bit, Damien reached up to touch his forehead, which had been cut but was healing already, and eyed the approaching Kiryu. "I don't normally lower myself to brawling…but you were an interesting opponent…therefore I shall kill you quickly."

"Arrogant dragon…" Damien spat, before noticing Nero's Devil Bringing. Not seeing any other option, he grabbed Nero's right arm with his own right hand, and began drawing power from the seemingly-cursed youth. In a sudden explosion of light, Damien's right arm transformed into a Devil Bringer, glowing purple with black armored hide. "Let's see how this works, shall we?" With a smirk, he created the energy hand, and stretched it out, catching Kiryu and lifting him up into the air, tossing him up, and as the demon spun and turned upright, falling back down to the earth, Damien balled the energy hand into a fist, and punched the dragon demon in the face, knocking him into Nightstar and Raven, who had been preoccupied by Uriah's spellcasting, keeping the demonic mage from unleashing a spell that would most likely destroy the entire city they were fighting in. If they had been in the United States, they would've gotten in quite a bit of trouble for causing this much damage. As the two Titans and the dragon fell to the ground, Damien barked an order at his cousin. "URIAH! Get us out of here! I don't care if it takes all your remaining power!"

"Of course, my lord," Uriah nodded, chanting softly in a demon tongue, and forming a shadow gate beneath him, stepping through it and maintaining it on the other side. Damien took off running, avoiding Dante's gunshots and leaping above Raziel's head, crying out to Gemini.

"Gemini! We're leaving! The battle is pointless!"

"But I was having fun!" The villain pouted, one hand extended and wrapping around Inferno's entire head, trying to suffocate him as she had tried with Raven, only for him to respond by striking her with a bolt of his enhanced fire, causing her to melt partially, and loosen her grip on him. "Damn!" Inferno stood, coughing, and formed fire constructs around his fists, rushing at Gemini and beginning to punch her, each blow melting her form where it struck. Panicking, Gemini attempted to tap into her consort's power, only to find she was being blocked. Looking back, fearing the worst, she saw a large energy hand reaching for her, finally grabbing her and yanking her into Damien's arm, the demon carrying her as he ran, and jumping into the shadow gate, Gemini clinging to his neck tightly, a twisted grin on her face, and a lovestruck look in her eyes.

"Looks like my ride is leaving…another time, Brother…" Vergil ran past his distracted twin, darting through the Titans who attempted to stop him, and leapt over Kiryu's head, landing in the gate, just as it closed, Inferno skidding to a halt just above the spot where the gate had been, swearing in frustration.

"Damnit! They got away!" he punched his hand, Raven sighing as she pulled her hood down, and eyed her son-in law.

"Calm down, Jeremiah…unlike last time, I think I can trace their energy…but I need to get back to my home to get to work…" she spoke, calmly, Nightstar flying up behind her and giving Kiryu a look, the demon dragon returning it with an icy glare. "The only problem is now we aren't working together like a team…this was much harder than dealing with Blood …"

"I'll say..." Dante whistled as he walked up, Cipher tossing the case to him, catching it with one hand. "Thanks, Raz."

"Don't mention it," came the response.

Nightstar sighed in frustration, and looked at her friend's mother. "Mrs. Wilson…what are we going to do now?" She was worried that they hadn't found out anything, but found herself relaxing when she saw the confident look on the older woman's face.

"We're going to go back to San Francisco, regroup with the others, and call in some backup…maybe the entire old Titans team…maybe the Justice League…anyone we can get to help out."

"Sounds like fun…mind if I stick around?" Dante grinned, twirling Ebony – the raven-black gun – around one finger, chuckling softly.

"We're going to need all the help we can get…" Raven looked to Kiryu, sighing softly. "I know I'm going to regret this…but we're going to need you too."

"Anything for Samara."

"Well, now that that's settled…let's get back…" Nightstar motioned as she flew up in the air, heading in the direction of their transportation, everyone using their own unique ways to either get their under their own power or to help the others.

* * *

End Notes: And here we are, another cliffhanger. I hate these things, usually, but it's just fun to write sometimes. I hope you're all enjoying this.

Nero and the events mentioned by Dante early in the story are from the most recent entry in the DMC series, Devil May Cry 4, for those who are unaware of this series, or are only casual fans. All the abilities presented in this chapter, as in the last two, are largely adapted from the actual games, with some variations added in for good measure.

If there are any other questions, just email me and I'll be glad to answer them. Thanks for the time, and I hope you stick around.

Next chapter features the other half of the team in their efforts to find Samara and relocate Dante's effects to another safe location, as well as their own recruitment efforts, and the following chapter the secondary cast gets even bigger.


	4. Hell Trigger: How the Other Side Works

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 4: "How the Other Side Works"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it. Keep reading…you may be pleasantly surprised.

* * *

Mercury was hard at work, so to speak, placing the Devil Arms that had been relocated to a seemingly-abandoned warehouse onto storage racks, getting an odd feeling from each and every one. He was attuned to supernatural phenomena, had been for quite some time now, and each of these weapons thoroughly spooked him. He paused when seeing one that was…yes, it was…a guitar."Now how do you use a guitar as a weapon...?" He said to himself, picking it up and running a hand along it idly. Suddenly he felt something quite familiar – the sensation of a demon entering their realm…and it was coming from the guitar.

There was a sudden flash of light, and when the spots cleared from his eyes, he was pressed up against an empty spot on the rack, a pair of pale grey hands on his chest. His eyes ran up those hands, widening considerably when he saw a bare chest, covered only by long pink hair, an attractive face, glowing pink eyes, and what looked like sleeves and the lower part of a dress around the torso of a very shapely, attractive demon. "Mmm…thank you for releasing me, child…" The demon spoke in a sultry, seductive voice, her slender fingers trailing down from his biceps and down along his stomach. Before they could get too far, his shot down and grabbed them, pulling them away from him rather firmly, but not enough to harm the demon woman. He could tell she didn't mean any harm, partly because she allowed him to touch her without doing anything…and judging by the dark energy she was giving off, she was quite powerful. She eyed him back, amused, and tilted her head, leaning in to peck him on the lips. "You're a good boy, young Peter…you love the green girl very much…"

"How do you…"

"We're not insensate as Devil Arms, you know…we're fully aware of everything around us…she has nice hands…" the demon purred, before the sound of someone stomping their foot interrupted her.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Beast Girl screeched as she stood there, a look of shock and anger on her face. Mercury hastily detached from the demon, who cocked her head at the green girl with a curious smile on her face.

"Mmmm…the other woman…" She said, teasingly, reclining back on a box of guns, hands on the edge of said box, grinning softly. Mercury had to restrain the animorph to keep her from rushing the demon. The commotion, of course, had attracted the others, Lady rushing into the room and grabbing the nearest weapon, a shotgun and leveled it at the demon, prompting her to tsk with a grin. "Oh my…that sort of behavior won't win you any points, little girl…" The demon waved a hand, and a number of bats appeared, rushing at Lady and striking the gun, exploding in a burst of electricity and sending a mild shock through the gun.

"Nnnph! Damn!" The Hunter didn't drop the gun, but a pained expression flashed on her face. However, the charged caused the gun to go off, and, unprepared, Lady's arm jerked back from the recoil, and the pellets hit the wall just to the side of the nearly-nude demon. "Hmph…smart-ass bitch…" the dark haired woman grunted, narrowing her eyes at the demon. Before anything else could happen, Trish entered the room, and pushed the gun to the side, and motioned as well for the demon to stop. "What now?"

"We're not fighting her…she's one of Dante's Devil Arms…"

"What?!"

"Her name is Nevan…but I've never heard of a Devil Arm reverted to its demon form on its own…" Trish gave the long haired demon woman a puzzled look, and Beast Girl nudged Mercury hard in the ribs, making him 'ooph' as well as getting him to speak.

"Yeah…uh…that's my bad. I'm sort of attuned to the supernatural…I'm a bit out of sync with this world, so I know where demons are gonna show up, I can feel their energy…and I guess I can bring them here." He explained, rubbing the back of his head nervously, Lady giving him a harsh glare before sighing in frustration.

"Just…don't touch anything else…we have enough demons to deal with as it is."

"Agreed," Trish nodded, crossing her arms over her chest before exiting the room. "Your friend should be here any minute now…"

* * *

In another part of the warehouse, which happened to be another storage room, this one for large caliber guns, Ravager, her mask off, had Bladefire pushed up against a blank wall, and was kissing him passionately, a seductive grin on her face as she reached down to fumble a bit with his pants, his hands on her hips and tugging a bit at the grey and black top of her costume. However, just as she was about to lower the pants, a voice from an unseen source cleared its throat and said, rather sternly: "You're not back in the cave. I don't think our hosts would appreciate you two 'playing' in a weapons storage room."

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Ibn…" Rose groaned, pulling her top back down and fixing him with a glare, as the detective came into view, the stealth function deactivated, a sour look on her face. "I know you're repressed, but come on! I was just about to…"

"Rose!" Bladefire interrupted, blushing a bit and motioning for the silver haired girl to be silent, a grin passing over her lips.

"Was I about to embarrass you, Joh'n honey? Hehe…" she snickered a bit, leaning in to nip at his nose, making him blush brighter. Ibn cleared his throat again, the red eyes of his cowl narrowing along with his real ones.

"I'm being serious here…come on…before I tell someone," he said, firmly, crossing his arms over the hollow bat symbol on his chest. Rose sighed in disgust, pulling away from Bladefire, and walking past Ibn, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Narc," she said simply, wearing a bit of a smirk. Ibn shared a look with Bladefire, then sighed in annoyance and left the room after Rose had. Bladefire just sighed, and tugged on his shirt collar.

"X'hal..." he muttered to himself, finally leaving the room after the other two, and walking down the hall, bumping into someone…wearing a tuxedo and top hat. "Zatara?"

"Hello, Bladefire…I heard the commotion…not very professional of you…"

"I think that's something you and Mar'i would agree on…" the hybrid grumbled a bit, rubbing the back of his neck a bit. "I hope we didn't put you out by having you come out here…"

"I don't mind coming out here to help you…I came to Jump to help you last time, after all. This is bad news…and I hope it doesn't get any worse…"

"Right…well, the other half of the time is in Europe right now, trying to warn someone about what happened here…someone that might be attacked next…Mar'i's with them...though to be honest, I'm not entirely comfortable with the team split up." Bladefire sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest, giving the magician a look. "We need help finding Samara before anything happens to her."

"Right. Just lead the way to the others, and I'll get to work. I'll need something of hers, of course." Zatara nodded, as Bladefire began walking down the hall, the magician following him closely. "Tell me…how's things been treating you since the whole…Watchman thing?"

"…Tough. That's why we're on the road right now…getting some perspective…before the work starts."

"Right…I don't envy you that." The two walked in silence for a few moments, before Lady exited the Devil Arms room, motioning for them to follow her. They did, and soon everyone was filling into a meeting room, Zatara raising an eyebrow when Nevan sat herself on one side of Mercury, and Beast Girl on the other. "Wow…what lovely company you guys keep…" he said, somewhat sarcastically, Mercury wearing an uncomfortable look on his face, Beast Girl still looking pissed, Nevan still amused, Ravager snickering, and the Devil Hunters sighing. Ibn, for his part, was as serious as ever. "I'm gonna take a wild stab at this and guess Mercury here summoned the demon we have in our company, probably by mistake--"

"Mhmm…or so he says!" Beast Girl replied, angrily, prompting Mercury to give her a plaintive look.

"Terri, it was an accident…honest! If I had known touching those things would do that, I wouldn't have tried helping!"

"And leave me to do all the work?!" Clearly, Mercury was in a no-win situation at the minute.

"Terri, I think you can go easy on him…" Bladefire said, a small smile on his face, the green girl sighing in annoyance, and nodding a bit.

"Yeah, you're right…it's just really annoying to find your boyfriend in the arms of a nearly naked woman…"

"Hehehe…" That came from Nevan, who received a dirty look from Lady, quieting her down with a rather pointed glare. "Hmph…"

"Anyway…" This was an attempt by Trish to change the topic into something less counter-productive. Then, before she could continue, the warehouse was shaken by what seemed to be an earthquake…or an explosion. "Oh, what now?" The blonde snapped, irritably, as she got up, and walked over to a closed window, opening it and sighing as she looked outside. "Titans? I think this is for you."

* * *

In the docks and harborfront area where the warehouse the Titans and company were 'hiding out', the remaining members of Tartarus had simply strolled up, and proceeded to cause mayhem in their own unique ways: Black Flash was 'running' about, traveling through time as it were to throw people about, while Doctor Blaze threw – at first – bolts of fire and other simple constructs, blowing up any cars and whatever other vehicles he could find, igniting the fuel sources and sending people scattering, as well as setting fire to other warehouses and the docks themselves, a roaring inferno soon springing to life. After several minutes, rescue services appeared, and firefighters attempted to put out the fires, only to find their hoses and fire retardant exploding in a shower of carbon courtesy of Hex, Tartarus' resident entropy magic user. The pale girl grinned evilly, watching the people scurry about in fear.

"This is fun," she said, looking over her shoulder to look at Sorrow, who was mostly just standing there, soaking in all the negative emotion, especially the fear everyone was giving off. Then, just as the police began to open fire, a black blur attacked, claws slashing through their body armor and knocking them aside, in bloodied heaps. "It's about time you got in on the action, Panther…"

The blonde, black-furred catgirl replied, snarkily, to her teammate, "Well, I'm not the one who had to be bailed out, am I?"

"Oh, be as smart-mouthed as you want, you're still pretty much useless without the rest of us…" Hex replied, smugly, prompting Panther to growl dangerously; before a catfight could break out between the two, as it were, Black Flash carefully interposed herself between them, and began to speak.

"Caaaaaalm down…weeeee've gotcompany…" she said, her voice at first slowing, then picking up speed, like a tape played at low and high speeds and motioned to the Titans, or rather, the half of them that were present.

"What's this? This is only HALF the team!" Hex said, eyes narrowing. "The hell is this? We're not good enough to face them all?"

The mood of the Titans present was grim, as they all had one big thing against Tartarus – the destruction of Jump City. They were all giving harsh looks to the villains, the silence beginning to unnerve them, Hex especially, fidgeting in place until Mercury began running, attempting to ram into the villains, causing them to separate as he came to a halt in front of them, moving fast enough to create a sonic boom and blow them off their feet, most of them landing on their backsides, Panther flipping in midair and landing in a crouch, snarling a bit.

"Crap!" was all Hex could say, eyes wide as she sat up, groaning a bit from the harsh impact of her backside with the paved section of the dock, literally. "I don't know if you guys noticed, but they looked pissed…real pissed…"

"What's your point?" Doctor Blaze said, frowning a bit himself as he stood, fire rippling along his hands.

"I'm pretty sure they're gonna beat the literal crap out of us if they get their hands on us…"

"Then fight back, coward!" Panther snarled, lunging towards Bladefire, jumping off Hex like a springboard, causing the pink haired girl to squeal in pain.

"Agh! You whore!"

Panther just snickered, and latched onto the hybrid Tamaranean, digging her claws into him and hissing. He promptly gripped her by the tail, and yanked, making her yowl rather annoyingly, in pain, and then kicked her off when she released her grip, sending her crashing down into Sorrow.

"You 'people' aren't getting away this time, I hope you realize that. Not even Slade can protect you now," Ibn said, flicking his wrists and producing his batarangs, both explosive versions, and with perfect accuracy, threw them in the midst of the recovering villains – the only one to be unaffected was Black Flash, who moved out of the way using her variant of 'speed', eyes narrowing as Mercury ran at her, the two beginning to trade punches, though clearly Black Flash had the upper hand after a few moments, due to her being able to exist in her own timeline and move faster than Mercury could with his more natural super-speed.

Hex, sighing a bit, began flinging entropy waves at the Titans, causing them to scatter, before barking "Where the hell's Fray?! That lazy--"

* * *

Their teammate, Fray, was seated on top of a warehouse, smirking a bit as he watched the team he'd been assigned already start to get their asses handed to them. He figured they could learn a bit of humility…and it wasn't like he had anything to worry about from these guys. Then he heard the sound of someone walking behind him. He turned, hopping up, and smirked as he saw a tall, statuesque blonde walking towards him, a soft smile on her face.

"Well, hello there…"

"You really should be with your 'friends'…"

"And why's that, cutie?"

"Well, because then you wouldn't be up here…getting your butt kicked…"

Before Fray could reply, in a smarmy fashion, the blonde extended her hands, and bursts of lightning shot from her palms, striking the metahuman and knocking him down, the shock enough to cause him to black out. Smirking, Trish stepped off the roof, floating in the air, and lowered herself to the ground, holding a hand out and summoning the Sparda blade Dante had taken with him – and left in the ship, forgetting it, as usual – and grasping the hilt in her hands, before throwing it, hard, the blade shifting into the form of a scythe, flashing out and striking Black Flash, cutting into her back and making her cry out in pain. Mercury flashed a thumbs up to Trish, the blonde nodding in response as she walked into the midst of things, to be joined by Zatara and Lady, each preparing in their own way. However, during the short battle, Tartarus was losing some of their courage, not used to dealing with the Titans – even though it was half the team – with such rage being expressed in their attacks…and Ibn had that psychological effect on everyone, especially criminals.

At the moment, the young man was trading blows with Panther, his metallic batsuit highly resistant to her claws, and Ibn's greater variety of martial arts techniques and superior training easily outwitting the angry blonde, who soon resorted to dirty fighting, only to find Ibn ready for that as well, punching the former Kitten in the face, knocking her back a foot, and following up with a hard upwards kick to her ribs, causing her to yowl, her eyes closing in pain. He responded by doing an series of upwards kicks, striking her in the chest and face, knocking her down and disorienting her.

"Stay down if you know what's good for you…otherwise you can get up again and I'll knock you back down," He warned, in a stern, rough voice, eyes narrowed beneath his mask. The villainess responded by meowing weakly, and passing out.

* * *

"We're losing, we're losing…why the hell are we losing?!" Hex dodged one of Ravager's sword strikes, doing cartwheels and backflips, avoiding the more-lethal sword strikes and lashing out with waves of magic, causing the ground beneath the grey, black, and orange garbed Titan to crack and fall apart, Ravager always one step ahead and finding a solid patch of land before renewing her assault. Hex responded by gritting her teeth, and then playing her 'trump card' – she began moving at superspeed, lashing out at Ravager with a series of kicks and punches. While Hex didn't have the strength or toughness of Ravager, she certainly could use her speed to her advantage. Hex continued to strike at the former Tartarus member, running around her in circles, before she suddenly stopped, like she'd been hit by something, falling forward, rolling, and landing in a crouch, shaking her hair, her pompoms waving about wildly. Ravager was recovering already, and was about to make a strike when the ground beneath her cracked again, and she dodged to the side. "That wasn't me…oh no…oh noooo…" Hex groaned as a very familiar figure approached, a scowl on the person's face.

The person had a familiar pink hairstyle, sculpted into two horns, wearing a pair of platform boots with thigh high purple and black striped stockings, and a gothic-style short-skirted dress with long, flaring sleeves, fingerless lace gloves, a black choker, and a furious look on her grey-skinned face, her pink cats-yes flaring. "HEX! JUST WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOUNG LADY?!"

"No way…that can't be…" Mercury did a double take, before bursting out laughing, as Hex whimpered, and looked around, trying to find a place to hide.

"Jinx?" Ravager blinked rapidly, realization dawning on her, as was a grin, as Hex's mother just stormed up to her daughter, glaring with every big of rage her small form could contain – an impressive amount of rage, enough to make Sorrow flinch a tad as Jinx raised a hand, and slapped her daughter across the face. "Oh man, this is priceless…"

"O-ow! M-mom, I can explain…" the spellcaster began, her mother crossing her arms over her chest, a stern look on her face, Hex rubbing her red cheek.

"Oh, of course you can! You can always explain! Well, not this time!"

"B-but mom--!"

"YOU BLEW UP MY CITY! YOU MADE IT UNIHABITABLE! WHY IN THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU'D GET AWAY WITH THAT?! AT MY WORST, I WAS JUST A THIEF, NOT A F MASS MURDERER!" After a few moments of visibly shaking with rage, Jinx seemingly-calmed down…before grabbing her daughter by the wrist and dragging her off.

"Mom! Come on! I'm too old for…yeek!" Hex was yanked behind a car, and a loud slapping sound could be heard echoing about, everyone present and conscious wincing as it became apparent from the cries and yowls that the villain was being spanked. Black Flash took this an opportunity to evacuate, grabbing Sorrow and Panther, while Doctor Blaze took off on his own, grumbling a bit as he ducked in the crowd that had formed, Fray abandoned for the moment.

"How humiliating…" Beast Girl winced, feeling a small bit of sympathy to Hex, though it was hard to muster up much, all things considered. It was then that something hit her, as she looked at everyone else. "Hey, wait a sec…where's Gemini?"

"Terri's right…I haven't seen that psycho at all since we came out…" Mercury nodded, while Bladefire looked thoughtful. Then he pulled out his communicator, and activated it.

"Mar'i? Mar'i, are you there? It's Joh'n…"

"Brother…it's good to hear your voice…" on the other end, Nightstar sounded tired, and battered as well. Immediately Bladefire was concerned.

"What happened?"

"We ran into more of the demons…the person Dante came here to warn was already beaten by the time we got here, and the demons got what they were after…what's that noise?" She was referring to, of course, the spanking.

"Uh…we were attacked by Tartarus…or most of it, anyway…they've run off now…except Hex…uh…her.."

"What? Spit it out already…"

"Her mother showed up…and is spanking her from the sound of it."

"…X'hal."

"That'll teach the little witch…" Ravager sneered a bit, sitting down on the hood of a smoking car, a wide grin on her face. After several moments of waiting, Hex soon emerged from behind the car, her face red and stained with tears, followed by her mother, whose rage had subsided over the display of parental authority but was still giving off a vibe of being royally pissed. Ibn was the only one who approached at first, the police staying several feet away, producing a pair of batcuffs.

"Hold on there, cowboy," Jinx held a hand up, growling at him. "She's not going to jail THIS time. She's coming home with ME…she'll learn the hard way that I'm a lot more scary than anything you guys can do."

"That's highly doubtful…" the young man replied. Jinx began prodding his hollowed out bat emblem, giving him her best threatening smile.

"If you put her in jail, she'll just escape with her friends, right? Whereas if I'm in charge of her – and don't forget, I'm a registered metahuman – and place her in my custody for as long as I see fit…she won't be able to get involved with any of her 'pals'…and if she tries, she'll be punished a lot worse than she was today…you follow me?" She said, as sweetly as she could, though the look in those eyes would terrify almost anyone…except Ibn, of course, and anyone trained by Batman. Though they would concede those eyes didn't belong to a superhero, but were something that would make even the Joker fear for his life."

Before even Ibn could say anything, Bladefire walked up, and put his hand on the other's shoulder. "We'll consider it….on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Her father has to be involved." Came the simple reply. Hex's eyes widened, and she began to shake her head furiously, but before she could say more than "N--", her mother's right hand clapped over her mouth.

"Sounds fine to me. Someone has to teach this girl how to behave, and it's probably not gonna be me, as much as I hate to say that…I do love her too much to be as harsh as she needs me to be…and she has to learn that there's nothing wrong with her father…hopefully I can convince him to help…if Peter there doesn't mind sharing the Flash spotlight with her."

Mercury grumbled softly, eyeing his black-sheep cousin suspiciously. "Oh, come on! She's one of the worst of the worst!" he said, finally, causing Jinx to scowl at him, and fix those eyes on him, growling dangerously and snapping her fingers, causing him to fall as the ground beneath him gave way before he could react. "Hmph…fine. I'll take it back…if she can prove me wrong!"

"Hear that, honey?" Jinx said, sweetly, finally removing her other hand from her daughter's mouth, a plaintive look on Hex's face.

"Mom, don't make me do it…I'm not like them! I can't be good!"

"Hex...you're misunderstood and a rebel. And while I can appreciate that, if you don't do this, I'll see to it that you go to jail for the rest of your natural life…" Jinx was totally serious when she spoke, and Hex could tell that this would be it for her, as embarrassing and humiliating as this was. Sure, jail was practically nothing when compared to her mother, because at least she could escape from prison…but her mother was her mother…

"…Fine…you win, happy?" She said in a small voice, all her bluster lost as she realized this was how her villain career would end…her being spanked by her mother and people laughing at her. The only reason no one was approaching was because Jinx was there, glaring and growling at anyone who came close, and frightening them off. She sighed, and in desperation considered running over to the police…but remained where she was.

Satisfied, Jinx turned to the Titans, who were all dumbstruck and unsure of what to say. Grunting, she tilted her head to them, grabbing Hex by the arm, and motioned for them to move. "C'mon, let's get out of here before someone asks too many questions…I need to talk to Wally in private – get your mind out of the gutter, Miss Wilson, or I'll spank you as well – and we need to handcuff my dear daughter here to something."

Snickering a bit, the team moved into the warehouse, followed by Jinx and the unwilling Hex, though not before Trish told the nearest officer where they could find Fray, a pleasant smile on her face – the police here learned years ago not to ask too many questions when Trish or Dante was involved, considering Dante had been, quite accidentally, cleaning out the criminals in a fairly rough fashion until most of the gangs decided to go into hiding and stop bothering the half-demon swordsman.

"Mar'i's head is gonna explode when she hears about this…" Beast Girl mused to Mercury, who himself looked like he was about to explode. In fact, most of the present team seemed to be taking this rather poorly – Beast Girl was the only one who had a bit of humor about it, and Ravager was still snickering at Hex, who shot her a dirty look until she received a harsh twist of the wrist, making her squeal in pain.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow!"

* * *

End Notes: Strange point to end it on, I know. But I thought it was good like this.

And if anyone's curious, every idea in this chapter has been discussed with BPK, so that I could portray his characters properly. If there are any discontinuities, I apologize, and will attempt to rectify them in the near-future. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're all enjoying this project of mine.


	5. Hell Trigger: Bright Shades of Conflict

* * *

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 5: "Bright Shades of Conflict"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Black Panther's Knight, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of BPK's Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Black Panther's Knight/Whatever penname he wants to go by in the future, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it. Keep reading…you may be pleasantly surprised.

* * *

Since the other half of the team had gotten back, things had been tense, with Nightstar finally vocalizing her frustration with a series of Tamaranean curses, pointing at Hex and jabbing in her direction every so often, a furious look on her face – and no one there could blame her for it. At the moment, the witch in question was handcuffed to a steel chair, a different cuff for both wrists, keeping her firmly in place. However, what was really keeping her in place was her mother, seated across from her with a serious look on her face. The other Titans had been filled in on things when they arrived, and Dante went to put his Devil Arms back. Nevan had departed for the moment, perhaps to feed, perhaps to have some fun (perhaps a bit of both), and any injuries were being tended to by Raven for the moment, though after the minor injuries were cleared up, she began talking to Jinx.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Jinx? It's your reputation on the line if…" the half-demon began, the witch waving a hand and making a dismissive sound.

"My reputation was on the line ever since my idiot daughter decided to run around and cause trouble for the Titans. If they weren't laughing, they were talking behind my back, wondering what kind of mother I was…" There was a slightly haunted look in the pink haired woman's eyes, and Raven reached out, clasping Jinx's shoulders in her hands. She looked up, eyes watering, and brushing at them with one hand. "It wasn't easy, bringing her up alone…and it couldn't have been any easier for her to grow up without a father, or other family…but it's not like I could just marry some random guy…I wanted my independence…and this is what it cost me…"

"Jinx…you're not a bad person…you're a little confused…you always were. It probably didn't help that Wally…well…left you, and then he met Linda…"

"Yeah…didn't help one bit…" the witch shrugged her shoulders, sighing softly and giving Hex a glance, before smiling ruefully. "I thought I did a pretty good job, all things considered…but to have her turn out like this…god…" She sighed, letting out all the negative energy, then did her best to smile again. "But now we can straighten her out before she does something else she'll regret…or I'll regret, anyways. The only problem…"

"…Is Wally, I know," Raven winced a bit, not looking forward to the confrontation that would follow as soon as the former Flash made his way to the current hideout, the warehouse Lady was based out of for the moment, and that everyone had moved into for the moment – they wanted to keep the cavern they were hiding in a secret from their demonic adversaries.

"Ugh…can't wait for that."

* * *

Raven's prediction would be accurate, as the moment Wally and Bart arrived (Bart in his Flash costume, the mask in place, while Wally was wearing a pair of slacks and a button up shirt), and everything was explained, Wally threw a fit. And of course, Jinx responded in kind

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHAT SHE'S DONE! SHE'S NO BETTER THAN THOSE LUNATICS SHE'S FRIENDS WITH!" Wally began, yelling rather loudly, making everyone present wince – though at the moment, Dante, Trish, and Lady decided to leave the Titans and their families alone to resolve the matter privately, while Dante went about ordering a pizza, and the two women began to talk amongst themselves, while cleaning their guns. Zatara had politely excused himself, and went to do some research, to hit up some sources he had in the city for information of the supernatural nature. Kiryu was forcibly pushed out of the room by Raven, the demon dragon showing little interest in the whole thing, but Raven wasn't letting him snipe anyone and make things worser than she'd thought they'd turn out.

"OH, DON'T YOU DARE LUMP HER IN WITH THEM, PAL!" Jinx screeched, an expression of hate on her face as she prodded her ex's chest with one finger, her eyes blazing with barely repressed anger, old wounds opening in this fight. Hex had an upset look on her face, realizing that, despite her hatred of her father, she had just made things worse for her mother.

"OH, YOU'RE ONE TO TALK! COULDN'T YOU HAVE AT LEAST TAUGHT HER SOME MORALS?!"

"HOW DARE YOU!? YOU PIECE OF CRAP!" Jinx promptly slapped Wally across the face, growling at him dangerously. While this was going on, Bart was attempting to put himself between the two. However, what none of them had noticed was that Jinx, with her wild hand motions, and finally the slap, had released entropy magic into the room, causing a ceiling fan to fall from the roof with a loud crash, sending a large coffee mug flying, smacking into nearby bookshelf, toppling it…and causing a large hardcover book to go flying. Before anyone could react, Bart was hit in the head, and fell down with a loud thump. "Yeeep…"

"Oh, my God! They killed Bart! Those bastards!" Rose snickered, paraphrasing an old American 'animated' series known for its low brow toilet humor.

"This isn't the time to joke. And nor is it a subject to joke about." Mercury responded in a somewhat sour manner, having rushed over from where he had been seated to help his father up, a concerned look on his face. "Dad, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay…that book hurt though…it WAS a book, right?" The current Flash stood up, somewhat shakily, pulling his mask off and exposing his short, wavy brown hair, a red mark visible on the side of his forehead, which he reached up to touch gingerly, before making use of his accelerated healing and metabolism to make the mark go away, leaving him in pretty good shape. Wally sighed finally, and looked to the abashed Jinx, who was biting her lower lip and laughing nervously.

"Uhm…ah…s-sorry, Bart…" she said, a nervous look on her face.

"It's okay, Jinx…I've healed already…" he said, smiling to her, putting her at ease. "Anyway, if you and Wally can't agree on what to do…I have a suggestion."

"What's that, Bart?" Wally tilted his head, curiously.

"We should probably register Hex, and we can get her placed on the Titans West team--" he indicated his son, Beast Girl, and the others in the room, Raven nodded in agreement, even though everyone else was looking rather upset by the suggestion. "Peter, please don't give me that look. I know you all have problems with Hex, and I don't blame you with everything she's caused to happen, or done to you guys…I really do understand…but you guys can be a positive influence on her, like…well, Wally was for Jinx…that turned out reasonably well, I think."

"Fine," Nightstar said. "We'll give it a whirl. After all, we let Rose on the team, so . . ."

Bladefire aimed a sidelong death glare at Nightstar. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You don't need to fight my battles, Joh'n…" Ravager smiled to him, nodding a bit, a sly tone to her voice, prompting Hex to snort in derision. She soon found a katana in her face and, looking nervous, laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's what I thought…" smirking in a smug fashion, pulling her blade back. Jinx growled at the silver-haired girl, though not getting much of a reaction from Rose. Mercury sighed, and sat back down next to Beast Girl, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close.

"I still thinks this sucks…" he said, finally, looking at his girlfriend. "What do you think, Terri?"

"Well, I'd really like to see her pay for what she's done…but her mom's right – we can't put her in prison, even a meta-prison without running the risk of her escaping…if we do this, we can keep her close enough to watch over her…and with that said, I think Peter should be in charge of her."

"WHAT?!" Both Mercury and Hex cried out, eyes wide as they looked at each other, then to the others, dismay in both their eyes as everyone began to nod…even Wally, everyone agreeing at the compromise.

"Ah, Hell…" Hex muttered as she slouched as best she could, while Jinx looked to Raven.

"I'm sorry about all the trouble she's caused…and about what happened to Samara…I'd like to stay and help, if that's okay with you?" The witch tilted her head, Raven nodding a bit as she spoke.

"Certainly. We could use the help…plus I don't know if the League can help right now…I'm sure they're busy with something or another…" the Azrathian spoke as she looked to her friend, and then over to Bart, who was pulling his mask back on.

"Well, I don't know about the others, but I'd be glad to help if I can," he nodded, fixing the mask in place. "Right now I have to check in with the League, but I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, the Flash zipped out of the room, a red and yellow blur, running through the streets of San Francisco to rejoin the League in Metropolis, while Wally, after giving Jinx a look, groaned softly before speaking.

"Look…I'm sorry, okay? For whatever that's worth to you."

The pink haired woman smiled sadly, and nodded. "It means a lot…say hi to Linda and the twins for me, will you?"

"Sure." And on that note, Wally ran out as well, leaving the Titans alone for the time being.

"Well, that was certainly…interesting," Ibn finally remarked, having been silent for most of the arguing, not wanting to get too involved with the family affair, and indeed was slightly confused as to why he was told to remain with the others – perhaps it was because they were a team, and as a team, they had to make the final decision regarding Hex's fate…as distasteful as that was. "We're going to need some way of keeping Hex under control, however…it wouldn't be prudent for us to leave her without some form of restraint…"

"How about a restraint collar or something? You know, to shock her when she runs?" Beast Girl said, considering the question at hand, Hex furiously shaking her head. "Okay, IF she runs."

"Sounds fair to me," Jinx nodded, as did everyone else but Hex, who had a nervous look on her face. "Maybe we can get a really good one that no one'll notice…"

"I'll notice!" Hex protested, giving her mother a worried look, which was brushed aside.

"While you're my daughter, I'm going to let them do whatever it takes to make you clean your act up," the older witch said, sternly, a very serious look on her grey face. Finally, Hex sighed and slouched again.

"…Fine, I'll wear the stupid collar…" she muttered, under her breath, growling softly as she nearly ground her teeth, only to receive a bop on the head.

"Don't grind your teeth; you'll twist them up."

"Mom…"

* * *

It was shortly after that that everyone regrouped, Hex still for the moment handcuffed to her chair, until Mercury zipped out of the room, and came back a moment later with a special restraint collar that they placed around her neck – it looked rather like a piece of jewelry, than the device it was. It was then that they uncuffed her, the witch rubbing her wrists as she stood up, a sour look on her face. Then she took another seat, this one padded more than her last one, wincing a bit as she sat on her sore backside, and slouched forward, leaning onto her elbows as everyone else took their seats, her mother sitting next to her, Raven on her other side, and the Titans sitting next to whomever they wanted, while the Devil Hunters, Kiryu and Zatara took the other end of the table, the magician getting the occasional dirty look and heated glare from Mar'i before he cleared his throat, and began speaking, partly to keep things civil, and partly to share what he had learned.

"Okay, well, I've been asking my sources – don't ask me who my sources are…I can't tell you their names or occupations, or I'll be breaking some long-standing agreements my family has – about these demons, and they're connected to some kind of religious movement-slash-cult named the Order of the Eighth--" he was cut off before he could finish, as Nightstar raised her hand. "—yes, Mar'i?"

"I've heard about this cult…I thought it was just one of those new age movements preaching spiritual enlightenment…"

"That's what most cults are like in order to gain believers…we've all run across this before, such as the Church of Sebastian…though now I understand where the name comes from…" Raven cut in, sighing heavily. "I can't believe I never thought of it before – Trigon was the Eighth Demon Lord…I just never took much stock in it, considering how different it was to Trigon's other cults…"

"May I finish, please?" Zatara said, an impatient look on his face. Everyone quieted down again, and looked to him – save for Dante, who simply leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on the table before them all and reclining, his hands behind his head, a bored look on his face. "Thank you…The cult has been operating for some time, even around the same time as the Church of Sebastian, Blood's group…but the Order of the Eighth was more secretive, until assimilating the members of Brother Blood's cult into them, and taking their place. However, from what my sources tell me, this cult is less about bringing a new heir into the world than actively bringing back Trigon. The heads of the cult are all his grandchildren, taking the places of their demon parents…not one of them is half human…save for the leader, Damien. In fact, he seems to be the weakest of the bunch, only able to manifest the power of flight and super-strength—"

"Better add the Devil Bringer to that list…" Dante remarked, offhandedly.

"Right…anyway, if Dante's finished with that bit of obvious information…no one knows why Damien's the leader, or even who his mother is…he's the only member of the demon family that doesn't seem to have any ties to the others. Uriah, you've all met – a demon sorcerer who specializes in entrapment spells and summonings. He's no slouch in the brute magical power department, but I'm confident his magic is no mach for mine, or Raven's, or even Jinx's." This prompted the pink haired woman to growl a bit at him, prompting him to tug on his collar a bit. "The next up is Astarte, a succubus. From what you've told me, you guys have seen her too…I don't know that much about her, aside from the standard succubus stuff – she drains people's souls for sustenance, usually during sex…she has access to shapeshifting abilities, the succubi brand of magic, flight, and teleportation." Zatara paused, as everyone who was taking this seriously nodded, Hex not doing much more than slouching, and Dante still maintaining his air of slacker-ness. "The other two you haven't met yet, and hopefully won't for a while yet – I don't know if we could take all five on at once. The first is an incubus, a counterpart of sorts to Asarte, named Caius. Again, same rules apply to him as any incubus. The fifth, but not the least, is Xera. She's a full fledged demon-warrior who, of any of the offspring, is most worthy of Trigon's name. She's utterly ruthless, cold-hearted, and is pure evil. The only thing she fears is her grandfather, and since he's dead right now, that leaves us in a tough spot." He paused again, before finishing his exposition with "Any questions?"

Raven raised a hand, before speaking. "If you and your sources are right about this, how could they have remained hidden for so long without doing anything to attack us? Why wait 25 years for revenge on me?"

"Apparently they've spent the last 25 or 30 years planning for this day, trying to bring back Trigon, starting with his imprisonment in Hell, before he escaped through you. When you killed him, their parents changed from trying to reclaim their kingdom to bringing Trigon back to life, terrified of you. I'm guessing their children aren't as smart, since they're so willing to pick a fight with you guys." Zatara spoke clearly, evenly, though anyone with any sense knew what he was saying meant bad news. Then Nightstar raised a hand, a blank look on her face, not trying to betray how she felt towards the magician.

"Do you or your sources believe they have the power to bring him back?"

Zatara sighed, and placed his hands on the table, before spreading them out, and then spoke. "Actually, to be honest, we don't think so. We're thinking they're trying to give Damien Trigon's powers to carry on the family name…and from what you told us, the 'theft' of the Devil Bringer proves this – that special attachment, to put it simply, allows a person or demon to absorb demonic weapons and matter to gain new abilities…and with the energy and weapons they have now, and Samara…well, I'm pretty sure they could give Damien more power than he has now…though I don't know if it'd be on Trigon's level. It would certainly be something to worry about, but nothing we couldn't handle, as long as we all work together. There'd also be their legion of demonic minions and vassals to deal with, of course. That could pose a problem. We may actually need back-up for this job, though it would be wise to save them for when we breach their headquarters. There's just one problem there…"

"And that would be…?" Ravager asked, a bored look on her face.

"I have no idea where they are," Zatara replied simply, everyone slapping their foreheads, except for Dante, who just snickered softly. "That's why I need something belonging to Samara. I could easily do a tracking spell – if they're here, on Earth, it'll lead us right to them, if they're in the demon world, the spell will point us to the nearest entryway. Well, hopefully, anyways. I haven't tried tracking someone through the demon world. I hoped I never had to. I do have some resources there, of course…a sort of inheritance, you could say…" He was mainly referring to his father, John Constantine, who was a paranormal expert and cosmic-level meddler of epic proportions.

"Great. The stage monkey doesn't know what to do…and you expect me to work with you people?"

"Hold on..." Bladefire raised a hand, and looked intently at Hex. "Mar'i, didn't you say Gemini was with the demons in Fortuna?"

"Yes, she was. Mrs. Wilson said she could sense that Gemini was Damien's consort…wait, you mean…?" his twin started, that same look on her face, as everyone else began to realize what Joh'n was getting at. Hex fidgeted nervously, a slight dry chuckle escaping her lips.

"Hex knows where they are…" Raven said, her eyes narrowing and beginning to glow black."

"Woah, hold on there! I don't! I really don't!" The witch shook her head fiercely, a worried look on her face. "Gemini's the only one who does! And they're gonna know you're making me work with you! I'm not any good to you!"

"I don't think so, Hexy…" Ravager said, faux-sweetly, standing up and walking over to the pink haired girl, drawing a sword, before suddenly tripping over someone's foot. She looked at the foot, noticed the platform boot, and followed it up a striped stocking, and growled up at the leg's owner, Jinx. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You honestly think I'll let you torture my daughter to get your information? I may be worried for Samara's safety, but not enough to let you hurt Hex….but she does know something more than she's saying…" The younger witched sighed in response to her mother's comment, and slouched in her chair, a defeated look once again on her pale face.

"Fine…Gemini and Damien hang around this seedy dive in Gotham from time to time…since he joined up with us, he opens portals in space to warp them there. As far as I can tell, Damien has a place in Gotham…one of the Joker's old hideouts." She responded, tilting her head a bit, before continuing. "They wouldn't be keeping Samara there, though…the place isn't appropriate for the setup he needs for what he has in mind…I know he needs a blood pit, a dungeon, a weapons area, and a place to house his demons…"

Raven looked thoughtful, before grinning, very softly. "I know just where they'd be…or at least, I hope I do…"

"What do you mean, Rae?" Jinx asked, using a nickname the Titans always had for the gothic sorceress/mage.

"Zatara said they took in Blood's followers, right?"

"Right…your point?" Cipher blinked, eyeing Samara's mother curiously.

"Simply put…what if it was't just the people they took in, but all the assets?"

Ibn slapped his forehead, nodding a bit afterwards. "Of course…they'd be hiding in one of Blood's 'churches', somewhere in this country. It would have connection to the demon world, the blood pit, and everything else Blood would've needed to start his takeover, so it's only natural that Trigon's descendents would take over one of those installations."

"I'll do a computer search on the Church of Sebastian…" Inferno nodded, coming out of his sullen stupor, a somewhat haunted look on his face, as he contemplated silently the worst case scenario, if they were unable to save Samara from her captors.

"Jeremiah…" Raven reached out, touching his hand gently, causing him to look up at her, blinking rapidly as she distracted him from his dark thoughts. "They won't do anything to her…it's ME they're after…they'll want to trade, if we can't find them…if that happens, I'll gladly take Samara's place…"

"I don't think your hubby would appreciate that, Ravey-poo…" Jinx said, regaining her composure and her humor, smiling somewhat snarkily to her friend, prompting her to roll her eyes. "Why don't we just get as many of the old guys together as we can, and all look into this? That way, we can find her faster…"

"Jinx has a point…" Nightstar nodded, smiling softly as she laced her fingers together. "If we get all the old Titans together in one big team, we can split up and search every Church of Sebastian, and interrogate anyone we find there, until we find the right one, and save Samara. And if we're lucky, they won't know Hex has switched sides, so we can use her to gain easy access…at least until they get wise to it."

"But I'm not that fast! You know I can't run for very long before I cut out!" the witch protested, eyes wide as her mother looked at her seriously.

"Hex…honey…I'm sure Raven can fix that…maybe dampen your magical abilities so you can run from church to church, getting each team in long enough to find out what's up…if that's okay with you…" The look she gave her daughter was full of worry, and a hand went out to grasp Hex's, causing the former Tartarus member to sigh in defeat once more, and offer her mother a weak smile.

"Sure, mom…I'll do it. Anything to make this right with you…"

Ibn noted that Hex had said 'with you', not 'with everyone', indicating that Hex was only concerned with her mother right now, and not the people she had actually wronged during her 'career'; to him, that didn't bode well for the immediate future. However, he wasn't about to voice his concerns publicly yet – rather, he'd wait till he had a chance to talk to Mar'i alone, and talk about this with her. But for the moment, he didn't get the feeling that she was lying to her mother, or any of them, and that she was honestly going to work with them for the moment. Finally, he spoke. "Now that that's settled…I believe we should get to work in our search…"

"Ibn's right…we should head to Gotham, and get in touch with Batman, and meet up with him there. He'd know all the hideouts and everything the Joker used to use, and it would certainly help us find Samara faster," Nightstar nodded, a serious look on her face now. Hex looked at her, and groaned loudly.

"Man…my rep is so in the toilet now," she lamented, receiving a nudge in her side from her mother, causing her to look up questioningly.

"It's no fun being the bad guy, hon. All it gets you is a beatdown, and you're too pretty for that," Jinx said, chuckling a bit. "Why do you think I quit? I had my chance at the big leagues, but I gave it up so I'd have my health and wouldn't spend my old age locked away in some hole in the ground…and if you keep up what you've been doing, you're going to end up retiring in Alcatraz, or worse."

"Right, mom…" she said in that bored voice any child would use when being lectured by their parents, tracing a circle onto the table with her fingertip. Jinx – and everyone else there – collectively sighed, seeing that Hex was going to be a bit of a pain to deal with, to say the least.

"What would our parents say if they knew we were doing this…?" Beast Girl commented, finally, realizing that not everyone's parents would be quite as receptive as Mrs. Wilson was right now…especially her own. With a hesitant exhale, she looked to Nightstar, a worried look on her face. "What if they make us disband the team?"

"It probably won't come to that…they didn't mind so much when we let Rose join, and she's a professional killer…" This earned her another glare from her brother, who she glared back at, good-naturedly. "Hex has the one black mark against her, but she wasn't directly responsible for it…if anyone's to blame, it's Slade." Nightstar then gave Hex a stern look. "And you're going to help us find him as well."

"Great..." she intoned, blandly, a blank look on her face as she rested her right cheek on her right hand. "I get to be the tattletale. Lovely." She snorted, finally, and groaned, her head falling on the tabletop. At first Jinx looked concerned, but realized soon enough it was just her daughter being dramatic…which earned her a kick to the shin. "Ow! Christ, mom!" Everyone snickered at that, while Jinx glared at her daughter.

"I don't care what you think, you're helping them however they ask you to! Otherwise, you behave!" the older witch snarled, while her daughter just sighed and nodded weakly, reaching down to rub her shin.

"Fine, mom…jeeze…" She said, moping about a bit, prompting everyone else to sigh somewhat heavily.

"We have to rely on her? This won't end well…" Mercury said finally.

* * *

End Notes: And this is where we leave off. The next chapter features the Titans and their new addition, along with some old allies, looking into things, to find Samara. To find out if they do, or not, keep reading.


	6. Hell Trigger: Lost Lost Uncle

"Teen Titans: Future Storm"

Story: "Hell Trigger"

Chapter 6: "Long-Lost Uncle"

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters present in this story, nor do I claim ownership over any of the locations, either. The characters are largely the property of DC Comics and Capcom. Most of the primary Titans characters are created by Rider Paladin, while Nightstar is solely DC, and Mercury is co-owned by Marvel and DC as part of their Amalgam imprints. Dante, Trish, Lady, and any other Devil May Cry characters and locals belong to Capcom of Japan and of the USA. I'm just borrowing them – in the case of RPs Titans, with permission – to tell this story to you, the reader(s). And for any reference, I'm pretty much going to copy and paste this thing for future installments, because I really hate writing disclaimers.

Author's Note: This story was written with the consent of Rider Paladin, and uses his characters and continuity, and is set in the 'missing year' period that was left up to our imaginations when we read it.

Author's Note #2: This chapter features additional crossovers and expansion on the history of Trigon, and the characters used from this crossover are the sole property of their original and current owners - what I can say is that the character(s) used are currently the propery of New Line Cinema and Time Warner, and are used without permission, and without making any profit off their appearance. In addition, the second crossover uses characters from Toei and Ishinomori Productions...namely, those of the Kamen Rider Franchise. I also claim no ownership over any of them, nor am I making a profit from this. Same as in all my fanfics. It's just for mine and your entertainment.

* * *

The world was black, and painful, when Samara Wilson awoke. As she stirred, she could feel chains around her wrists, and, when the spots and faded and color returned to her world, she could see that she was indeed chained to the wall of a dungeon, though a rather nicer dungeon than most. Standing in the corner was a shadowy figure, tall and imposing, looking at her with a cocked head. The smell of rot was in the air, coming from the figure, who was holding something in one hand...something large, and sharp. Samara attempted to use her magic to take care of the chains, when the figure lunged forward, and grasped her by the wrists tightly, nearly crushing them, the smell of must and rotting meat filling her nose. That was also when she got a good look at her jailer.

He wore a yellowed, battered old-style hockey mask with three red triangles, one over the eyes, and one over each cheek, a tattered, ratty brown jacket over a torn grey sweater and a blue undershirt, and grey sweatpants, black gloves, and black boots. One eye was gone, the other currently smoldering with rage and fury as he continued to crush her wrists, until she made a sound of pain and he released her. The lesson was learned - she shouldn't try to escape while this...thing...was watching her. That was when her cell's door opened, and in stepped the attractive young man in red leather, with eyes a familiar shade of purple - the same shade as her mother's, in fact, though his skin was more flesh-toned than hers.

"Hello, Samara...I see you've woken up...and made the acquaintance of your late Uncle," He said in an even, measured tone, smiling almost pleasantly, despite the aura of evil he was giving off at the moment.

"Uncle...? What the hell are you talking about? I only have one uncle, and he's certainly not very 'late'..." Samara growled, rubbing her wrists as best she could beneath the cuffs around them.

"He's...the first of Trigon's human progeny, of the 19th century. Born of an ill-advised relations with a woman not chosen by his faithful followers, which accounts for his...unfortunate state." Samara eyed the being that had resumed standing in the corner, a mix of apprehension and curiousity in her eyes. "No one knew about his true parentage, and, at a time when the great demon was distracted by affairs of the netherworld, his beloved, though admittedly backwards, son died in an unfortunate accident partly owing to a bad decision on the part of his mother. The poor woman went insane, and started to go on a killing spree when the camp that her son had drowned at re-opened, by posing as an ordinary woman...does the story sound familiar yet, young Samara?"

It did indeed...everyone, even in this day and age, knew the not-quite-urban legend of 'Camp Blood' - a mentally disabled boy drowned in the lack because the camp counselors were off doing stereotypical teenaged things, and, after the death of his mother, the boy proved to be not quite dead, killing the one who killed his mother, and then anyone else who went near the camp, or even the woods, and then, how the boy died, and came back...as a rotting, shambling corpse. Everyone knew the legend...of Jason Voorhees.

The mass murderer eyed Samara with his one good eye, the look of anger that had been there fading as he looked between her and the one speaking, noticing that whenever the undead creature looked at the young-appearing man, there was a look of almost...affection. Not romantic, but more like the look of an obedient child to...

As the thought dawned on Samara, her eyes widened in horror, and the young man's calm smile turned sinister.

"Ah, so you've figured it out, hm? I suppose I dropped enough clues...but this isn't about you, dear...though the inner demon in you is quite powerful, what I want is your mother...for she is my chosen Pride."

"Pride...?"

"Your mother has great evil in her as well...and when my seven chosen spawn are together, we will show this world the leadership it deserves...with its hate, and its callousness...isn't that right?" the last part was spoken to the living corpse, who nodded softly, a peaceful aura about it...no, him...as Samara couldn't deny that this...thing, was indeed a person...as buried as any human emotion was inside the still-beating heart of Jason Voorhees.

* * *

"Do you honestly this this is going to work?" Hex remarked as she stood in front of the San Fransisco branch of the Church of Sebastian - or at least, what it had formerly been, though it still housed a demon-worshipping cult of confused and lost souls, headed by madmen. Standing next to her was Raven, wearing a pair of shackles and attempting to look as helpless as possible...which was kind of easy at the current moment. Hex was being as quiet as possible, while Raven had earlier surpressed her magic ability to feign the illusion of having actually been captured. Zatara's sources indicated that there was a good chance Samara was still in the city, which was odd...but then again, when one considers the group's true goal was to get their hands on Raven, maybe not so odd.

"I'm hoping it will...it might help if you actually try to make contact, though..." Raven said softly, rolling her partially-shielded eyes for a moment."

"Oh, right...sorry." Hex took a deep breath, then started banging on the door, then began pressing the intercom button (yes, they had an intercom button), and began screaming, more or less. "Hey, jackasses! Let me in already! I know you idiots are in here! Thanks for leaving me behind! Of course, I got what the boss wants, so joke's on you! Hah!" She then cleared her through, and looked at Raven, releasing the button. "That good?"

"...Yes." was all the older magic user could say, just shaking her head at the pale girl's lack of subtlety. As they waited, the doors opened, and robed figures stood at either side of the entrance, as well as Panther, who was wearing a catty grin - of course - as she eyed her (former) teammate, who was yanking on the chain length connected to Raven's shackles. The blonde was more concerned with the witch's supposed captive than she was with Hex herself, which kept the pink-haired girl from losing her cool.

"Well well well...you actually did something useful for once, Hex...I'm impressed...now we've got a matching set..." That got both of the magic users' attentions, as it could be an implication that Samara was in that location...it never occurred to everyone involved, INCLUDING the villians and demons, that this was entirely a trap for all of them. "Well, bring the skank in already...her ladyship will be back at any time now." Panther said saracastically, implying Gemini, while Hex just nodded and softly dragged Raven behind her.

"I really hope your friends know what they're doing..." She whispered very softly back to Raven, who whispered back.

"I hope so too."

* * *

Outside the Church of Sebastian were two armored figures - one had what looked like a body armor, colored in dark blue, with a bisected mask of dark blue and sky blue, with holsters for various weapons added on, largely for large calibur small arms, with a broadsword slung over his back, and the other was in what looked like a full armored suit with a considerable build, with a silver and red chestplate, a silver right boot, a cuff around the left ankle, cuffs around the wrists, red gloves, and a helmet with the eyes sculpted to look like the wings of a bat, with a rather distinctive belt with what seemed to be an upside down bat-themed attachment - watching the events transpire below, before making their way down to the ground level of the building they were standing on, before moving behind the church and making their entrance through the back door, used for deliveries, the blue-clad man picking the lock with a set of specially made tools, before they entered the Church itself.

"This place...it feels...evil." The second armored person said, in a voice accented in Japanese, sounding younger and somehow less imposing than his outside led one to believe, his yellow 'eyes' looking over everything intently, not wanting to miss a detail of what was going on.

"Demon nests usually do, from my experience," the man remarked as they made their way in deeper, the knowledge they possessed guiding them to the cells. As they approached, they would occasionally have to duck into an alcove or shaded spot to avoid the passing cultists and guards, before, after consulting with the information they'd brought with them, they'd found the right cell. "Get ready...no doubt there's something in there that'll be out for our blood once the door's open."

As the body-armored man spoke, he placed explosive charges all around the door, then moved back with his associate, and then detonated the charges.

As Samara pondered her options, and the information she'd been given, her uncle watched over her intently. However, his attention was diverted once a massive explosion rang out, and caused the door of her cell to fly inwards, smashing into the zombified corpse and smashing it into the nearest wall. The two armored men rushed in, the bat-themed one breaking the chains holding Samara, and picking her up, handing her to the man in the Nightwing armor, who began to carry out the quarter-demon. "What the hell?" She managed to remark, only for the masked man to slap a hand over her mouth.

"Quiet, kid. You'll get us caught faster if you talk. Kurenai, back me up." He hissed, in an oddly familiar tone of voice, though the pitch wasn't quite recognizeable, nor was the somewhat amiable tone, despite the fact that he was basically issuing her an order.

"Of course, Strike-san." The young-sounding man nodded, looking behind them as the trio made their way up the stairs that led to the main hallway of the compound. The body-armored man continued to grasp Samara in the bridal carry, moving with trained expertise, not even bothering to look down more than once upon entering a new room, and giving everything a good once over.

* * *

As Hex brought in her prisoner, the rather loud sound of the explosion could be heard, and the cultists mobilized. Panther looked even more angry than usual, and began barking orders, though considering she wasn't very high up in the pecking order made that kind of pointless. "Find out what's going on, you damn idiots!" She hissed, a furious look on her face, while Hex looked to Raven, who nodded, and then snapped her fingers, causing Raven's shackles, and the enchantment on them, to dispell, which allowed the older sorceress to begin levitating various large objects, and hurled them at Panther and any cultists that saw the motion. "What the hell? A trick? Hex, you whore! I'll tear out your throat for this! With my teeth!"

The pink haired girl wore a disgusted look on her face, even as Panther attempted to remove herself from the remains of her object, a heavy wardrobe-like affair, while the cultists Raven had hit were out cold. As the two began to make their way forward, there was another explosion, this one radiating a wave of dark energy that was nonetheless non-malevolent, as the heavy door to the dungeons shattered in a flurry of wood fragments and shards of metal, and the man identified as 'Kurenai' burst through, his left boot now in the form of something red, with bat wings coming off both sides, landing on the floor in a crouch, with a stylized bat logo appearing where he'd landed.

"Okay, who's that?" Hex asked, completely lost, only to see the faux-Nightwing charge forward, Samara with her arms around his neck, a gun in one hand, firing a series of what had to be tranqulizer darts at everything in sight that was both human AND hostile, which included several rounds into Panther, knocking the human-animal hybird out cold...AFTER she'd been booted in the face by the Slade-wannabe. "And who's that?"

"Introductions later, fleeing now!" he responded, setting Samara down once she'd regained enough of her energy, freeing the man's other arm to pull out the other tranq gun, and start opening fire on the next wave of cultists. When a scatter few showed no signs of being affected by the heavy dosage of drugs, the Nightwing spun his guns around in his hands, and produced another pair of large handguns, opening fire with them, the sounds loud and harsh, like miniature detonations, bullets impacting into the demonically-enhanced beings, knocking them back.

"I'll look the gift horse in the mouth later...for now, let's get out of here," Raven replied, beginning to chant. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Once the chant was repeated two more times, the desired effect took place, as Raven shadow-teleported the five out of the 'lobby' of the church. As they made their escape, Damien burst forward, lunging towards the effect, though narrowly missing, while the zombified half-demon hybrid that had been guarding Samara emerged from the shadows, a great fury in his functioning eye as he surveyed the damage, especially angered that, because of outsiders, he'd failed in his appointed task.

"It's alright...calm down," Damien instructed the spawn of Trigon, though he himself was far from calm and relaxed, though refraining from showing his own rage and frustration. "Thanks to Raven, I'll be able to track them down...especially since they have Hex with them...you can avenge your failure there, my boy." The giant nodded, the look in his eye indicating he understood what he was being told. "Are you up to this?" Damien turned to look back at an armored figure who'd just appeared on the scene, wearing rather familiar (design-wise) armor colored in black, grey, and blue, adorned with the ocacsional skull emblem, and the mark of Scath on its forehead. "They ARE family, after all..."

"You don't have to worry about me, boss-man. Just point me at the little bastards and I'll tear'em apart." The man growled, a sadistic tone to his voice, prompting the hell-spawned being before him to laugh.

"Good...very good indeed. I'd like to see you keep that promise, dear boy...and you get what you want as well...revenge on Deathstroke and his family. Should keep you busy for some time."

"Oh, definately. So, I take it I'm the one going out this time with the runts, huh?" The man asked, still growling, though in a more 'friendly' tone now.

"Yes...and while you're out there, I need you to track down a certain...someone...besides Raven."

"Really? Who is it?"

"Listen closely..." and with that, the hell-spawn gave his instructions to his armored follower, who just chuckled darkly once his orders had been given.

"Oh, very nice...that should be fun. I have to thank you, boss-man. This second chance at life has been a blast so far."

"Well, that's what I'm here for. To facilitate the end of the world in the most amusing way possible." Damien said in a light tone, smiling himself as he watched his soldier and his consort's followers attend to their duties.

* * *

When the Shadow Teleport reached its destination, the unexpected passengers caused the whole thing to end up depositing the five onto the floor of the 'living room' of the warehouse the Titans and their allies were holed up in, in a tangled heap. They tried to extract themselves from it, but were stymied. Before anyone could lose their cool, the body armor-wearing man spoke. "Kurenai, change back...that might give us some space."

"You're probably right, Strike-san." with that, there was the sound of shattering, and in a burst of orange light, the imposing armored figure was replaced by an attractive, though awkward-appearing and oddly dressed, young Japanese man with floppy light orangish brown hair. With his decrease in size, the five were able to remove each other from the human pretzel they'd been in, while the Titans began to fill into the room.

"Samara!" Jeremiah rushed forward, taking his love into his arms and embracing her, the two clinging to each other tightly, before starting to kiss, while the faux Slade rolled his eyes. When he and the Japanese boy were noticed, looks of suspiscion were cast his way...but the moment of truth came when Rose entered the room, taking one look at the man...and lunging forward, crying out in fury, startling the Nightwing, who grabbed her by the wrists, rolled onto his back, and, using the leverage of his legs, sent her flying across the room.

"Calm down, before I have to hurt you." He remarked, drawing his tranquilizer gun. As Joh'n rushed forward to defend his lover, the man's partner took action.

"Kivat!" he cried, the seeming toy-bat from his belt appearing, landingin his right hand, while he outstretched his left.

"Bite!" The bat responded in Japanese, black veins appearing on the hand where the Kivat's teeth had sunk into the flesh, and in a flash of orange 'glass', he was again in his imposing battle form, taking up a defensive stance, before launching himself towards Joh'n, catching him in a headlock, though not doing much more.

"Calm down! This fighting won't get us anywhere! We need to tell the others where we are!" He responded, trying to subdue Joh'n as peacefully as possible, fixing him with a pointed stare, which could be felt even through the 'lenses' over his eyes. "We have to share what we know with you, and if you all start fighting us, we can't help you!"

"That's bullshit! You know who that is, right? It's SLADE! We can't trust him!" Rose barked, a furious look on her face, before being silenced by a hand motion from Raven. "What?"

"I think it's more likely he's an impersonator or something...he's certainly not our Slade, if anything. He was the one who saved Samara...and even our Slade wouldn't have the sheer gall to wear those colors...or didn't you notice what he was wearing?" Rose took another glance, then noted with surprise that the man before them was indeed wearing something out of character for him...and it didn't hurt that now, in bright light, the outline of the Nightwing emblem could be seen around the mask's exposed eye. As the tension began to die down slightly, this Slade-impersonator holstered his weapons, then removed said holsters from his tactical armor, to make himself look less threatening, kicking his weapons away into the corner of the room, while keeping his hands in plain view. "Would you mind explaining why you're wearing that, by the way?"

"Consider me the man Slade Wilson might have been if he didn't let his darkness eat him away inside. I won't say much more than that, of course...when the time comes, you'll know everything. Call me...Nightstrike."

"I can sense that you're not lying to us...though the uniform you wear does make it somewhat hard to trust you...we've had a lot of bad experiences with the man who wore the original."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that. Where I'm from, I'm no enemy of the Titans...and never have been. Like I said, I'll explain later. We're not just here to help you...we're looking for one of us."

"One of you?" Mar'i tilted her head, regarding this 'Nightstrike' with a curious expression. "What do you mean by that?"

"A member of my team was captured by someone who decided to join up with your demonic 'buddies' here, and took her as a kind of 'good faith' token. You know her, in fact." Now THAT took everyone else for a loop.

"We...we do?" Mar'i blinked rapidly at that, confused, as was everyone else. 'Strike nodded, and uncrossed his arms, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, you do. She's your cousin, Rhiand'r."

* * *

End Note: And that's how this chapter ends. I thought it was a good, suspenseful moment, for me, and decided to end us off here. And in case anyone's wondering, or unclear on who exactly Kurenai is, he's Wataru Kurenai, the titlular character of the 2008 series Kamen Rider Kiva. And as for the mystery man, he comes from another story of mine that I was working on, and is crossing over into here, along with the rest of his team from that story, to help our heroes out in their trials against the demonic hordes of Trigon's children. If you all have any questions, please feel free to ask me, and I'll explain as best I can.


End file.
